E/C.12/GC/26 III. Obligations of States parties under the Covenant A. Non-discrimination, equality and groups or persons requiring particular attention 12. Under articles 2 (2) and 3 of the Covenant, States parties are required to eliminate all forms of discrimination and to ensure substantive equality.11 Accordingly, States parties shall undertake regular reviews to ensure that domestic laws and policies do not discriminate against people on any prohibited grounds. They should also adopt specific measures, including legislation, aimed at eliminating discrimination against both public and private entities in relation to rights under the Covenant in land-related contexts. In particular, women, Indigenous Peoples, peasants and other people working in rural areas deserve special attention, either because they have been traditionally discriminated against in terms of access to, use of and control over land or because of their particular relationship to land. 1. Women 13. Women are among those who are disproportionately affected by poor access to, use of, control over and bad governance of land, threatening their rights under the Covenant and potentially leading to discrimination, including intersectional discrimination. In several of its concluding observations, the Committee has drawn special attention to discrimination against women with regard to security of land tenure, access to, use of and control over land, marital property, inheritance and exclusion from decision-making processes, including in the context of communal forms of land tenure.12 In its general comment No. 16 (2005), the Committee noted that women have a right to own, use or otherwise control housing, land and property on an equal basis with men, and to access necessary resources to do so (para. 28).13 In its general comment No. 12 (1999), the Committee recognized the importance of full and equal access to economic resources, particularly for women, including the right to inheritance and the ownership of land (para. 26).14 14. For women, land is a pivotal resource for meeting subsistence needs and for accessing other goods and services, such as credit. Furthermore, land is important to enhance women’s engagement in household decision-making and for their participation in rural institutions that could strengthen their decision-making power and leverage over collective rights and resources. In addition, women’s property ownership improves children’s welfare and increases access to sexual and reproductive health services. It also reduces women’s exposure to violence, in part because women who have security in access to tenure can flee domestic violence more easily by seeking access to protection, and also by making women’s households more secure, by enhancing women’s self-confidence and self-esteem and their role in decision-making, and by allowing them to garner more social, familial and community support.15 Thus, in cases of agrarian reform or any redistribution of land, the right of women, 11 12 13 14 15 4 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 (2009), paras. 7–8. With regard to discrimination in relation to access to land, particularly access and ownership, see, for example, E/C.12/GIN/CO/1, E/C.12/CMR/CO/4, E/C.12/MLI/CO/1, E/C.12/NER/CO/1, E/C.12/ZAF/CO/1 and E/C.12/CAF/CO/1. Concerning the very small number of women who own land, see, for example, E/C.12/ZAF/CO/1. Regarding traditional and customary law and practice depriving women of their inheritance and property rights, see, for example, E/C.12/BEN/CO/3, E/C.12/CMR/CO/4, E/C.12/ZAF/CO/1, E/C.12/NER/CO/1 and E/C.12/CAF/CO/1. Regarding patriarchal attitudes and attitudes based on stereotypes, see, for example, E/C.12/NER/CO/1. See also Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, arts. 15–16, 18 and 19 (c). See also Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 34 (2016), in which that Committee recognized rural women’s rights to land, natural resources, including water, seeds and forests, and fisheries as fundamental human rights and emphasized that States parties should take all measures necessary to achieve the substantive equality of rural women in relation to land and natural resources (paras. 56–57). International Center for Research on Women, Property Ownership & Inheritance Rights of Women for Social Protection – The South Asia Experience (Washington, D.C., 2006), pp. 12 and 100. See GE.23-00043