Advancing Women's ESCR: alternative visions of development, land and property rights

Struggles for women’s rights related to housing, land and property (HLP) reinforce the interdependence of economic, political, social, civil and cultural rights while highlighting the disproportionate impacts suffered by women and the gender-specific ways in which violations often entrench resource allocation and women’s unequal status within their families, communities and societies.

Member organisations of ESCR-Net and other human rights organisations have increasingly challenged violations and advocated for new models of development, distribution and justice through diverse strategies (including grassroots campaigns, legal and policy advocacy, and promotion of alternative models).

Guided by the Women and ESCR Working Group, ESCR-Net will bring together approximately 30 human rights leaders engaging with HLP issues, particularly from a women’s rights perspective, in order to:

• Articulate common and systemic challenges to the realization of women’s human rights related to HLP, including the role of state and non-state actors such as the impact of private initiatives and trade agreements.
• Assess the existing human rights framework (in particular under CEDAW and ICESCR), and evolving regional and international standards and mechanisms, as frameworks for advancing struggles related to HLP.
• Articulate and develop components of a collective strategic agenda to advance progressive approaches to HLP through human rights, grounded in a gender analysis, attentive to existing gaps and emerging openings.

Agenda available here.