WUNRN
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/un-s-rebuke-inheritance-laws-victory-women-s-health
Tanzania – CEDAW Committee Groundbreaking Judgment to Uphold Widow’s Land & Property Rights
May 27, 2015 by Tamar Ezer
Factors like high HIV prevalence have led to a large
number of very young widows, many of whom are left homeless and destitute by
their in-laws.
Estelle (not her real name) had a good life as a tailor and a mother of three
children, living in a home she acquired with her husband. But when her husband
passed away, Estelle, like many Tanzanian widows, soon found that she and her
three young children were homeless.
When the court named her brother-in-law the administrator of her property,
he seized it and began renting it out for profit. Under customary law, widows
may inherit nothing from their husbands, women and girls cannot inherit clan
land, and sons inherit more than daughters.
Estelle had no choice but to leave town and move in with her parents in a
neighboring district.
This story is all too common throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Factors like
high HIV prevalence have led to a large number of premature deaths and, in
turn, very young widows—many of whom are left homeless and destitute by their
in-laws.
HIV only magnifies the consequences of discriminatory property and
inheritance laws. According to UNAIDS, “One of the most serious economic
effects of HIV for women has been the loss of property.” Women’s inability to
own and inherit property leads to both HIV vulnerability and greater difficulty
coping with the virus.
Economically dependent on men, women are less able to take steps to protect
themselves from infection. They may be trapped in abusive relationships and, upon
a husband’s death, be forced to participate in polygamy or marry a relative of
their late husband to survive.
Rather than accept this as inevitable, however, Estelle fought back.
With the help of Tanzania’s Women’s Legal Aid Centre and Georgetown
University’s International Women’s Human Rights Clinic, she
and another widow initiated court proceedings to challenge the system of
discriminatory inheritance laws. They argued that these laws violated
Tanzania’s constitution and its obligations under international human rights
treaties it had ratified.
The court agreed, acknowledging that these laws were “discriminatory in
more ways than one.” But it refused to take any action, fearing that doing so
would open “a Pandora’s box” of challenges to numerous discriminatory customs.
Undeterred, Estelle pushed forward, appealing the decision. Yet this appeal
was never heard. Four years passed before the Court of Appeal pointed out a
clerical error that stymied the case—an inconsistency in the dates in the lower
court’s order. Over the next two years, Estelle repeatedly requested a
corrected order to no avail.
Estelle next turned to the United Nations committee responsible for
monitoring state compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women. In late March, this committee decided its
first case about land and property rights, issuing a groundbreaking judgment in Estelle’s favor.
The committee held that by condoning discriminatory inheritance and
property laws, the state denied the widows’ “equality in respect of inheritance
and failed to provide … any other means of economic security or any form of
adequate redress.” The committee found both a substantive and procedural
violation since the court’s failure to hear the widows’ appeal violated their
access to justice and right to an adequate remedy. In addition to compensation,
the committee recommended the following:
Justice is at last in sight for Estelle and Tanzanian widows like
her.
Governments too often ratify international human rights treaties for
political appeal, never dreaming that they will be held to account for these
obligations. It takes women like Estelle, with the persistence and courage to
challenge injustice, to give teeth to these treaties. It is only through
struggles like hers that rights can have any meaning.