Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel

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Womens Right to Land and Housing

Dr. Vibhuti Patel,Director, PGSR

Professor & Head, Post Graduate Department of Economics,SNDT Womens University, Churchgate, Mumbai-400020.

E-mail- [email protected] , [email protected]

Phone-91-022-26770227, 22052970 (O)Mobile-9321040048


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Macro Reality

Women constitute of of worldspopulation,

do 2/3 of worlds work.

In return,

Women get 1/10th

of worlds income and

Own 1/100th of

worlds wealth.The United Nations


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Womens contribution to theeconomy Women have historically managed the

unpaid care economy and fulfilled theresponsibilities of cooking, cleaning, familycare, collection of fuel, fodder, water,kitchen gardening, poultry and animalhusbandry and provided nutritionalsecurity.

As womens contribution to the economy

and society at large remains unrecognised,largely underpaid and mostly unpaid, theneed for women to be able to secure landand property has become even more

critical.


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Housewife by Amrita PritamHousewife

The housewife (2)If the womans husband is asked

What does his wife doThe answer is

My wife does not work.

ThenWho bears this world in her womb?

Who gives birth to the farmers, the workers?Who cooks, washes, cleans and fills water?

Looks after the child and the sick?Whose labour gives men leisure for liquor, tobacco and card session?

Whose labour gives men their strength to go to work?Who labours without being noticed?Mutely working, without being paid,Without being appreciated ever------


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Institutional Constraints

discriminatory inheritance patterns,

agriculture and development issues,male- centred land reforms

use of forest-based resources,

gender-based violence,

the appropriation and privatizationof communal and indigenous lands,

as well as gendered control overeconomic resources and the right to

work.


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Why the stress on Womens

Rights to Land and Housing ?

to lessen the threat of discrimination,

different forms of violence- Domestic,community-based and societal

denial of political participation,

and other violations of their economicrights such as enterprise development,self employment


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International Documents

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1948 (Articles 17 and 25);

The housing rights of Refugees, 1951

The Housing Rights of Indigenous People

(Not yet adopted) International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights, 1966 (Article 17);

International Covenant on Economic, Social

and Cultural Rights, 1966 (Article 11); UN Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women,1979 (CEDAW Articles 13-16).


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Constitutional Provisions in India

Article 14-equality before the law and equalprotection of laws within the territory of India.

Article 15 (1), 15(2) and 15 (3) prohibition ofdiscrimination on the basis of sex & affirmativeaction policies for women and children.

A.P. state government was the first to declare landand property rights for women during mid-nineties.

Amendments in the Hindu Code Bill after the publicinterest litigation filed demanding coparsonary

rights for Hindu daughters in the ancestral property.


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Womens Movement for Land Rights

1982- Bodh Gaya struggle under leadershipof Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Vahini

1986-Public interest litigations filed byBhuribai and Dhagibai in Dhule

1990-Shetkar Sangathanas campaign forjoint land-titles in the names of men &women members of family.

2002 Janu, a tribal woman leader ofVaynad district of Kerala

2006-MASUM managed to achieve jointproperty registration in Purandhar Taluka.


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Womens Right to Housing (WRH)

WRH is linked with womens rights inproperty, land and inheritance. Asprimary user of housing, womensstakes and requirements are thehighest in housing.

For women, beyond shelter,housing is a place of employment,

a place for social interaction, aplace for child-care and a refugefrom social instability & sexual

violence.


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Special Needs of

Female Headed Households (FFH) In the peaceful areas, 1/10th of the

households are headed by divorced,deserted, single women. In the conflict

prone areas 1/3rd of the householdsare FFH.

FHH are also the poorest of the poor.

Even if they have money, they facehurdles while looking out for a rentedplace or a house on an ownershipbasis.


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Contribution of the Womens Rights Movement

Housing Rights have been majorconcern of the womens Movement inIndia for over two decades. Whenwomens groups started providing

support to women in distress, its wasrelatively easier to find jobs andschool-admission for children. The most

difficult task was to get anaccommodation for women victims ofviolence, desertion, rejection, fraud andcheating by relatives.


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Housing and Womens Identity

Womens identity is entwined with ahouse but housings identity as acapital investment and the largestoutlay in the household budget lieswith male head of the household.

Whether women are or arent propertyowners, their place or sphere is

considered to be within the house- cultof domesticity.

Low status of women is perpetuatedby the devaluation of domestic work.


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Gender Bias and Housing Problems

The gendered construct of social &economic relations within and outsidethe household and deeply entrenchedpatriarchy discriminate against women

in virtually every aspect of housing, beit policy development, entitlement ingovernment projects, control over

household resources, rights ofinheritance and ownership and eventhe construction of housing.


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Emerging Issues

Need to focus on housing in terms ofpersonal meanings as well asaffordability, womens role and thehousing industry.

Privileged position of property ownerswho tend to be men in the housingdelivery system & general

subordination of women. Womens lack of representation in political

bodies & societal restrictions reinforcing theirstatus as second class citizens.


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Gender Aware Approach

Gender Neutral Approach in housingneeds to be replaced by Gender

Aware Approach that takes womensspecific needs, concerns and rightswith respect to housing intoconsideration.

Womens lack of security of

tenure is the overarching concern ofall those who believe that womensrights are human rights.


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Stake Groups in Housing industry

Land surveyors, builders, developers,designers, financiers, mortgagebankers, lawyers, credit unions,government officers, material

suppliers, real estate brokers,appraisers, contractors, interiordecorators, gardeners, landscapearchitects, consumers .

In the language of economics, the SSside comprises of production,construction, management,maintenance, rehabilitation .


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Gender Audit of the Syllabus

In the schools of Architecture or engineering,in their planning and design education, thereis public-Private split.

The syllabus should emphasize that as aphysical structure, the house is a site for

housework, home-making, child rearing andwage-labour for majority of women all overthe world.

A house layout influences and affects genderroles among household members and

therefore mirrors change in societys conceptof the family.

Hence the need for gender sensitive designingbased on the ethos of shared housework bymen and women in the household.


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International Human Rights Law onSecurity of Tenure

A person is said to have a secure tenureif he/she is protected from beingremoved arbitrarily and

involuntarily from their homes andlands.

Tenure is secure if it is

protected by legislation ratherthan protected merely throcustoms and traditions.


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The UN on Forced Eviction

"Women...and other vulnerable individualsand groups suffer disproportionately from thepractice of forced eviction. Women in allgroups are especially vulnerable given the

extent of statutory and other forms ofdiscrimination which often apply in relationto property rights (including homeownership) or rights of access to property oraccommodation, and their particularvulnerability to acts of violence and sexualabuse when they are rendered homeless."(UN Committee on Economic, Social, andCultural Rights, Sixteenth Session, 1997)


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Threat to Womens Security of Tenure (WST)

Circumstances and conditions that threaten WST Gender biased laws preventing women from

owning, inheriting, purchasing, leasing, renting,bequeathing housing, land and property.

Judicial Interpretation of the Law- No explicitforbidding of WRH in gender neutral laws, still theycreate obstacles for WRH.

Land and Housing Systems as they grant titlesto private property to Heads of Households who

are often deemed to be men. Customary laws, Traditions, Attitudes

Domestic Violence


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Financial and Material Barriers

Gender-biased policies in financing forhousing, availability of services, material andinfrastructure, affordability, habitability,accessibility, location and cultural adequacy

to handle political economy of housing. Difficulties in securing loans for purchase of

good quality housing

problems of rental housing.

Age of Women and Housing- Plight ofwomen senior citizens.


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Indian NGOs and WRH

Two decades of Debate- Two positions1. WRH independent of maleownership & Control because womensland-use priorities are different from thatof men.

2. Joint Titles- majority of poor masseshardly manage to have one house. Hence,

separate house for women is a non-issue.The Felt Need:

Need for a training manual to deal with

the modalities of attaining WRH


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Experiences of SEWA & SPARC

SEWA: inclusion of womens name in the title toproperty before granting loans for housing. Asmonetary benefits accrue to the family, the

husband/father and family members acceptthe proposal of joint titles to land/house.Women Contractors aiming to be builders

SPARC: Supports Mahila Milan (MM), network ofpavement dwellers, assists MM to getrecognition and support from the settlements,skills & training, makes resources available for

the low cost housing.


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State and Civil Society Initiatives

Progressive states have empowered women bygranting housing rights. e.g.

Building societies in Sweden & England,

Unions in Germany, Self help Groups &Cooperative Enterprises in Canada, Central &Latin America, Africa and Asia.

The enlightened nation states accept

societal responsibility for womenshousing and the rest live it to individual

women to fend for themselves.


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Witch-hunting of Women Bhootali (Maharashtra),Dayeen (Bihar)-

Widowed/divorcee Dalit/ tribal women.

In 2001, In the Koombha Mela in Allahabad,60000 women were deserted by their family

members. Sarpanch, Talati &Tahasildars taking

advantage of illiterate women.

In Algeria and West African countries FHHswere burnt. International Committee ofWomen Living Under Muslim Laws.


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Action Agenda

Womens land and housing needs must

be understood from the point of view ofwomens rights to dignified life.

Women should not face anydiscrimination in exercising their right

to land and housing due to their caste,race, age, religion and ethnicity.

State and civil society initiatives mustfacilitate the process of womens

empowerment through exercisingWHRs. The local self government bodiesshould reserve 10% of all houses/flats/ industrial units/ shops in the

market places for women.


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Rural and tribal women must get their landand housing rights.

Schools of Architecture, Engineering Collegesand Institutions for Interior Designing shouldorganize capacity building workshops andtraining programmes for women.

Gender sensitization of the decision-makers inthe housing industry (both public and privatesector) and the elected representatives of themainstream political bodies should be giventop priority.

For formulation of gender-sensitive policies,experts on the subject should be inducted inthe apex bodies of urban, rural and tribalhousing projects.


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Thank You

WomensRight to Land & Housing

is a basic Human Right.

Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel

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