We support women and women’s groups to implement actions that advance women’s land rights. We engage different actors to ensure that the rights of women in infrastructure projects are promoted and protected.

Infrastructure is a land-intensive industry, which often requires compulsory land acquisition in the name of the common good. Yet, compulsory land acquisition often has far-reaching socio-economic impacts on the lives of Women whose parcels of land are acquired. Land is a means of production in that it serves as the source of livelihoods. It also embeds social value as locals connect intimately with their land and form strong identities and social standing based on it.

Moreover, individuals and groups lay claim to land ownership or possession in a myriad of historically informed ways. Laws do not provide strong protections of women’s land rights adding to the complexity of land ownership issues in Indonesia. Gaps in protections are then aggravated by infrastructure projects, leading to greater gender inequality. Women continue to hold record low levels of formal land ownership. Land rights tend to be held by men or kinship groups that are controlled by men.

Although the land act grants women and men equal rights to land, in many rural areas customary practices prevail. The decision-making power over such land is exercised by men or kinship leader) in the family. As they are not fully informed about their rights and of the advantages of asserting them, women can become vulnerable during the land acquisition process and suffer loss of customary land when government acquires compulsory land from their family members (spouse, leader, or son) for a given infrastructure project. Furthermore, language barriers and a lack of legal literacy limits the ability for women to access remedy when they have lost access to their land unfairly. Women in affected areas have sometimes complained of an unfair compensation process. Economic hardship following land loss further undermines the strength of women to engage with justice institutions and seek remedies.