8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
1/30
11/31/2011 1
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
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
2/30
2
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
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
3/30
3
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
4/30
4
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------
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
5/30
5
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
6/30
6
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
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
7/30
7
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).
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
8/30
8
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
9/30
9
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
10/30
101/31/2011 10
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
11/30
111/31/2011 11
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
12/30
121/31/2011 12
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
13/30
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
14/30
141/31/2011 14
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
15/30
151/31/2011 15
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
16/30
161/31/2011 16
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
17/30
171/31/2011 17
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
18/30
181/31/2011 18
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 .
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
19/30
191/31/2011 19
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
20/30
201/31/2011 20
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
21/30
21
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)
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
22/30
221/31/2011 22
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
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
23/30
231/31/2011 23
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
24/30
241/31/2011 24
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
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
25/30
251/31/2011 25
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
26/30
261/31/2011 26
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
27/30
271/31/2011 27
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
28/30
281/31/2011 28
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
29/30
29
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.
8/7/2019 Women's Right to Land & Housing by Vibhuti Patel
30/30
301/31/2011
Thank You
WomensRight to Land & Housing
is a basic Human Right.
Top Related