Closing the gap on women’s land rights

In half of all countries around the world, women experience gender discrimination in their rights to land. A movement is swelling across the Global South, where women are demanding equal rights to their land and natural resources.

Martha’s Story

After her husband's death in Liberia's civil war, Martha returned to her farm, where she lived with her in-laws. There was a stand of rubber trees that she and her husband had planted before the war, and the harvests became her primary source of income. Life continued that way for years...

Meet Kou Berpa

When her father was living, Kou Berpa recalls, she and her mother were free to cultivate the family’s land. No one encroached on the 100 acres that Samuel Berpa held in Nimba County, northeastern Liberia. Kou had even planted a stand of rubber trees, a valuable commodity crop in the lush West African country.

To Live Without Fear – Keta’s Story

Keta Guntha is beaming with a great sense of security. It’s a feeling she says she hasn’t known before, and it comes from a single piece of paper — legal title to the parcel of land that her family farms in the Indian state of Odisha.

For Keta, who lives with her husband and three ...