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When Women Do Not Own Land: Land Ownership and Women’s Empowerment in Sri Lanka

This project seeks to generate evidence-based research, through a mixed-methods approach, on the relationship between land security and women’s empowerment with a view to influencing policy, practice, and public awareness in post-war Sri Lanka. There has not been a detailed study of how access to land can enhance women’s empowerment since the war ended in 2009. It is expected this research will generate evidence that will feed into necessary policy reforms on land that recognises the post-war complexities women face in reclaiming land, shapes the practice of state and non-state actors, and responds to the ground realities of women’s issues, both legal and psychological.

Hub member(s):
Mario Gomez, International Centre for Ethnic Studies
Nireka Weeratunge, Fellow, International Centre for Ethnic Studies
Ranmini Vithanagama,  Researcher, International Centre for Ethnic Studies
Viyanga Gunasekera, Researcher, International Centre for Ethnic Studies
Ramani Gunatilaka, Independent Consultant

Project Publications

Land is widely recognised as an important catalyst for women’s empowerment, yet not much is known about women’s private land ownership and the importance of land ownership for women’s empowerment. In this study, we explore this association using primary data collected from 2000 households in Jaffna and Kandy districts, Sri Lanka.
This literature review was conducted to explore and critically analyse the case of women and land in Sri Lanka. Firstly, this review explores the pre-colonial,…

Project Partner