Asia

Proposals on Reform to State Land Housing Legislation and Policy

This publication identified discriminatory laws and policies in relation to state land and housing allocation and makes recommendations for reform.

All Her Worldly Goods: Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights

Women and Land Rights in Irrigation Settlement Schemes in Sri Lanka

Women’s Access to and Ownership of Land and Property in Batticaloa, Jaffna and the Vanni Conducted in CARE Lift Villages

The report looks at various issues pertaining to women’s ownership and control of land and property in specific areas in the North and East of Sri Lanka affected by the conflict. The report discusses practical difficulties women face in accessing and owning land, legal provisions that affect women’s access and ownership, the implications of ethnicity, caste, and religion on land and property rights as well as perceptions related women’s access to and ownership of land. Traditionally there has been a strong trend towards separate property ownership of women.

Property ownership and Domestic Violence, A perspective from Sri Lanka

One third of women in this study claimed to own land, and the prevalence of violence reported was low (13%), but the study highlights notions of patriarchy and social norms that operated in the context of Sri Lankan society, making women passive subjects to the violence inflicted on them. The study did not find an association between the ownership of property and domestic violence; women with property and those without were found to be equally likely to report violence.

Women’s Right to Land Ownership in Swat State Areas: The Swat State era and the post-State scenario

This paper deals with women’s right to land in the former Swat state areas. The author argues that inheritance was according to customary law (riwaj) which did not recognize women’s Islamic right of inheritance, disputed cases could be taken before the quazi to be decided according to the Shariat although at the discretion of the leader. But the extension of the West Pakistan Muslim personal Law (Shariat) application Act of 1962 to the Swat region in 1976 formally provided for women’s inheritance according to Muslim law.

Summary: Land Rights for Muslim Women: Review of Law and Policy

This document provides a short summary of law and policy impacting on women’s land rights in Pakistan.

Land Rights for Muslim Women: review of law and Policy, Sustainable development

This research report argues that women’s land ownership and control has important connections with their empowerment and there has been negligible research on how many women own land in Pakistan. This study aims to fill this gap and examine the connection between land ownership and empowerment. The focus in on women’s land ownership vis a vis private agricultural land, not residential or commercial property.

“Sindh: ‘Reports of flaws in land distribution’: Revenue Minister”

“Sindh: Government Land Distribution”

This is a report of the study on the issues and challenges of the land development programme prepared by the Participatory Development Initiative (PDI), in coordination with Oxfam-GB.