“Most of us (particularly women in rural areas) do not have sufficient knowledge on our rights, yet staff in land commission have a tendency of not providing quick solutions,” said Ms Bahati Issa from Kikungwi village in South Unguja.
Ms Issa was among 50 women activists from villages who gathered at Kidongo-Chekundu psychiatric hospital function hall in Zanzibar municipality to discuss the impact of land conflict on women.
It was a gathering to mark the 2015 ‘sixteen Days of Activism against gender-based violence (GBV) campaign’ which started from November 25 and ends on December 10.
Many women at the workshop gave testimony how they have been abused by their spouses or male family members on land-ownership, including harassment and denial mainly when the husband is dead.
“Most of the land conflicts are in villages, where majority of victims are women. We need education on how we can fight for our rights,” Ms Issa said after Ms Grace Ngonyani from Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA) read a statement calling for joint efforts in overcoming challenges facing women.
Ms Ngonyani said that land ownership by women still remains a major problem, as Mr Hassan Nassor lawyer from the ‘Zanzibar Land Commission’ informed participants that there was law which bars female citizens from any property ownership including land.
The event was organised by TAMWA in collaboration with CARE-Tanzania, in response to global calls to empower women by educating them about defending their rights.
No comments :
Post a Comment