Landless despite laws : land rights of women in post - conflict Nepal and Sri Lanka

Abstract

Women forms around half of the total agricultural force of the world and in most countries, more than 50 per cent of agricultural labourers are women. Nevertheless, very small portion of landholdings throughout world is owned by women. The condition of women in South Asia is even worse as women in most of the South Asian countries have legal rights to own and inherit land, but the legal contradictions and the customary practices dominates women’s right to demand their own land. The condition worsens in post-conflict societies where women are denied the right to ownership of land in case of death or disappearances of their husbands. Nevertheless, post-conflict societies create a unique opportunity to challenge the customary law that denies land ownership to women. Many studies illustrates that in post-conflict period, more men than women actively participate in the conflict with more women left to take charge of the households. This paper will look into the customary and legal right of women to own and inherit property in two post-conflict societies of South Asia- Nepal and Sri- Lanka, and percentage of women owning land in the two countries, the legal and customary barriers to women inheritance to land and how the post-conflict opportunities has been used both, by government and women to ensure women inheritance to land and property.