Strengthening indigenous and rural women’s rights to govern community lands: ten factors contributing to successful initiatives

Historically, the injustices confronting women with regard to community land rights have been widespread. They are commonly perpetuated by patriarchal community-level practices, customary laws, and formal laws passed by governments, all of which either overlook or directly discriminate against indigenous and rural women’s tenure rights. While women and men are increasingly challenging and positively transforming patriarchal customs at a local level, research demonstrates that across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), women’s rights to substantively participate in decisions determining the use, management, conservation, allocation, and inheritance of community lands and resources remain inadequately protected under national-level law.