“Property cannot own property.” : A qualitative case study addressing the implementation of Women’s Land Rights in Liberia

Sammanfattning: Women produce 80% of the food in sub-Sahara but solely own a meager 1% of the land they cultivate. Since the mid-90 century, this issue has been illuminated in the international community and launched a trend of land tenure reform, particularly in sub-Sahara, where numerous countries have substantial rural populations. The trend is situated in the importance of inclusive land rights for the rural population because of the mitigating effect it has on conflict and on the promotion of gender equality. The purpose of this study is through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, contribute to identifying and explaining the current main obstacles that persist for rural women of Liberia to benefit from the Liberian Land Rights Law of 2018 after the new law has been passed and the implementation has begun. The study shows that the three main obstacles that persist for women are the patriarchal power relation, the lack of awareness, and the lack of local institutions. Where the law has been implemented, it certainly promotes equality between the genders, but there is still a long and rough road before the Liberian people can cross the finish line of full implementation and gender equality regarding land.