In Jharkhand, eastern India, women are not entitled to own land and accusations of witchcraft are wielded against them to silence their claims to land

When Talabitti’s husband died in 2016, her claim to the family land seemed to die with him. Though her husband had worked the family land by himself, upon his death his male cousins laid their claim. If Talabitti attempted to make a competing claim, they threatened to drive her away – with violence, if necessary. Sadly, this threat materialized.

When Namati's Community Land Protection project in Sierra Leone's Paki Massabong Chiefdom came to a close, a 'handing over' ceremony was held. Along with village chiefs and local officials, a number of female community members stood to speak. Here are excerpts from what a few of these women shared.  

By SARAH ELIZABETH ANTOS, MOHAMMAD ZIA, and ENRIQUE PANTOJA

Originally available at World Bank blogs

Second in a series of blog posts on the release of the 2019 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) at the ReSAKSS Annual Conference in Lomé, Togo, Nov. 11-13.