PENANG, Malaysia – As the world prepares to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) unveils its latest report, “Land & Rights Watch 2023.” This report highlights the courageous struggles of women in marginalized rural communities for land rights, dignity, and justice amid increasing political repression.
Arnold Padilla, Coordinator of PANAP’s Food Sovereignty program and its No Land, No Life! campaign, emphasized the significance of releasing this report ahead of International Women’s Day: “As we commemorate the achievements and bravery of women worldwide, it’s crucial to recognize the challenges faced by women in rural areas, particularly in their fight for land rights.”
Compelling stories of women’s struggles for land
The report features compelling stories from Tamil Nadu, India, to the villages of the Philippines, illustrating the profound obstacles women encounter in rural communities.
In Tamil Nadu, a woman’s journey from a marginalized Dalit family to the forefront of a local women’s collective symbolizes the unbreakable spirit of women facing systemic discrimination and economic hardship.
In the Philippines, rural communities like Kaybanban grapple with relentless pressure from powerful real estate interests and elite landlords, resulting in displacement, violence, and human rights abuses. Local women farmers shared their harrowing accounts, underlining the stark realities of landlessness and state-sponsored violence.
The report documents alarming human rights violations related to land conflicts, with PANAP monitoring 82 cases in 2023 alone. Among these cases, two women were murdered, 20 were arrested, detained, or persecuted, and six were harassed or physically assaulted.
Padilla remarked, “These stories underscore the urgent need to amplify the voices of women in rural areas and support their struggles for land rights and social justice, especially as we commemorate International Women’s Day.”
Women and agriculture
The International Labour Organization (ILO) points out that women comprise approximately 41% of the global agricultural workforce, a percentage that rises significantly in poorer regions. Specifically, in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, around 60% of women are engaged in agricultural work. It is also estimated that women do 75% of agricultural work. Yet, globally, women own or control only less than 20% of agricultural lands.
Ensuring women’s control or access to land and other productive resources could increase yields by as high as 30%, boost agricultural production by as much as 4% and lift as many as 150 million people out of poverty and hunger.
“Women farmers are involved in all stages of production – from planting to preparing the food on the table,” stressed Cathy Estavillo, the secretary-general of the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) and a steering committee member of the Asian Rural Women’s Coalition (ARWC).
Estavillo challenged governments to recognize and respect the rights of rural women. “They should not neglect us so that we would not need to import food from other countries. We can produce the nation’s food needs if land is provided to us,” Estavillo said.
The veteran peasant leader emphasized that rural women can only assert their right to land through collective struggle and action.
Three land-related killings every month
Overall, PANAP monitored 35 victims of killings, of whom 11 were farmers, nine indigenous peoples, and nine land activists, with six victims coming from sectors unidentified in news or online reports. This means that almost three people were killed every month in 2023 due to land conflicts and struggles.
The “Land & Rights Watch 2023” report also recorded a total of 670 victims of arrests, 475 victims of harassment, and almost 11,000 victims of displacement.
Most of those murdered came from Mexico (9 victims) and the Philippines (8). Latin America accounted for 22 of the victims of killings, while Asia comprised 11 victims. State agents such as the police, military, and paramilitary were implicated in almost 65% of all cases of land-related human rights atrocities, with over 93% of the total number of victims. Mining firms, meanwhile, were implicated in 17 cases of violations, followed by plantations (12 cases), industrial development (9), and energy projects (6). Monitored reports did not identify the economic sectors involved in a big chunk of cases (32).
Collective action and solidarity
Padilla concluded, “As we mark International Women’s Day, let us stand in solidarity with these courageous rural women and reaffirm our commitment to advancing the rights and aspirations of women in rural communities.”
The release of the “Land & Rights Watch 2023” report is a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by women in their fight for land rights and respect, underscoring the need for collective action to build a more just society for rural women and all oppressed and marginalized peoples. ###
For media inquiries or to access the full report, please contact Yanna Ibarra (nolandnolife@panap.net)
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