Women's Land Rights: Shifting Power for Gender Equality

May 31, 2019 | Beth Roberts
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Achieving gender equality requires a fundamental shift in the balance of power over resources. Globally, from urban financial centers to remote communities, from international bodies to parliaments to fields, men dominate decision-making and control of resources. But worldwide, women are pressing for change.  

 Last month, a court in Ecuador issued a landmark ruling for the indigenous Waorani people, protecting their land from oil exploration. Nemonte Nenquimo led the tribe’s resistance, and unequivocally asserted her people’s rights to their land: "The government's interest in oil is not more valuable than our rights, our forests, our lives." 

 Nemonte’s leadership is a thrilling example of women taking hold—ownership—of their land and of destiny, for themselves and their families and communities. But Nemonte stands in jubilant and hopeful contrast to a stark reality worldwide: a web of barriers stands in the way of women taking hold—of their own agency, of the world’s resources, and of seats of power.