Transforming Legal Norms to Empower Women, including Marriage, Inheritance and Property Rights

An overview of 40 organizations working at a national level on property and inheritance rights, based on a survey of 60 community- based organizations in East and Southern Africa suggests that where women’s property and inheritance rights are upheld, women acting as heads and/or primary caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected households are better able to mitigate the negative economic and social consequences of AIDS. Conversely, the denial of property and inheritance rights drastically reduces the capacity for households to mitigate the consequences should a member be infected with HIV. Recommended interventions can be categorized as legislation, litigation and education: activities promoting gender sensitive legislation and a legislative framework that protects women’s human rights; activities enhancing the judicial sector’s capacity to uphold women’s rights and provide for effective litigation; and activities that advance public awareness, understanding, and application of women’s rights.

An evaluation of GROOTS (Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood) Kenya, self-help and community organizations for women in Kenya which formed to strengthen the visibility of women in development and decision-making, found that the intervention resulted in both increased awareness and an increase in the number of women and girls receiving legal support (186 as a result of the intervention compared to 15 in the six months prior to the start of the intervention). The intervention was successful in raising women’s participation in their communities around the issue of HIV/AIDS and property and inheritance rights for women and girls. GROOTS Kenya focuses on: property rights, community responses to HIV/AIDS, women’s leadership and governance and community resources and livelihoods. The intervention was evaluated through discussion questions administered pre- and post- radio listening group discussion and community discussions, focus group discussions with project beneficiaries and records of paralegals.

Property rights are legally protected in Zimbabwe. A non-profit organization trained women and girls on comprehensive legal rights, resulting in 600 women regaining their property . (Abstract)

A project in Kenya in 2004 to improve the ability of widows to reclaim their property led to 20 widows reclaiming their property. The project mobilized and educated widows; provided training for customary leaders, NGOs, faith based organizations and community groups and held public meetings with media coverage to raise awareness of the issue.

A study in Zambia examined the impact of a video-based motivational intervention promoting future planning in 1,504 HIV-positive couples in Lusaka, Zambia and found that motivational messaging integrated into HIV VCT services encouraged future planning. Following a group video session, couples randomized to the motivational arm could choose to write a will, identify a guardian for their children and make financial plans. Desirable behaviors modeled in the motivational video were measured at quarterly intervals for a year and compared in intervention and control arms. Demographic measures including age, income and educational status were not associated with planning behaviors. Participation in the intervention was associated with will writing (23% versus 5%) and naming a guardian (32% versus 17%) but not with other planning behaviors. The intervention was noted if a male, a female or both wrote wills. The study points to the need to expand existing HIV and VCT services to meet other non-health needs of those living with HIV.