Publication: Land Rights and Gender Inequality in Senegal
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2024-11-11
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2024-11-11
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In Senegal, despite the existence of legal provisions and international commitments aimed at promoting gender equality in land rights, women continue to face significant challenges in accessing and controlling land. While the Constitution of 2001 explicitly prohibits gender discrimination in matters of property rights, traditional practices and patriarchal norms often limit women's access to land. Traditionally, land is a collective family asset under the control of the head of household, and the rights obtained by women are generally temporary and secondary in nature, with women rarely receiving full administrative rights to the land. Additionally, women's limited knowledge of land access procedures and the influence of patriarchal norms contribute to their marginalization in land matters. To overcome these constraints, women are creating their own strategies, such as collective access. This Gender-Land Gap analysis is in two parts: first, a report outlining the key issues and constraints for women’s land rights in Senegal along with a set of recommendations to improve the situation for women’s land rights in Senegal; and second, a catalog of interventions that support women’s land rights and can be scaled up in
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“World Bank. 2024. Land Rights and Gender Inequality in Senegal. Gender Gap Analysis; Part 1. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42396 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Catalog of Tools, Mechanisms, and Initiatives for Reducing Gender Inequalities in Land Tenure in Senegal(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-11)In Senegal, despite the existence of legal provisions and international commitments aimed at promoting gender equality in land rights, women continue to face significant challenges in accessing and controlling land. While the Constitution of 2001 explicitly prohibits gender discrimination in matters of property rights, traditional practices and patriarchal norms often limit women's access to land. Traditionally, land is a collective family asset under the control of the head of household, and the rights obtained by women are generally temporary and secondary in nature, with women rarely receiving full administrative rights to the land. Additionally, women's limited knowledge of land access procedures and the influence of patriarchal norms contribute to their marginalization in land matters. 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Access to justice is directly linked to the issue of agency-whereas agency defines the legal and social boundaries of rights and practices, the concept of access to justice covers the tools and mechanisms aiding persons in exercising these rights. Obstacles to women exercising agency in Jordan are caused by a combination of the treatment of women versus men under applicable legal frameworks, with gaps further widened by restrictive social norms that can govern women's behavior. Recent legislative and regulatory reforms, if implemented effectively, have the potential to increase women's agency through expansion of rights and improvements in service delivery. Despite legal and social impediments to accessing land, levels of registration of land by women have been increasing in recent years.
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