Women’s Land Rights and Access to Commons in Bangladesh: A Case of Securing Commons (Khas land) from Northern Bangladesh

Abstract

"Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries with a population estimated currently at 160 million in a territory of 155,000 square kilometers. Consequently, pressure on land is enormous as land is not only a source of livelihood for most in a country which employs 70 percent of its workforce in agriculture but that land is also a key part of the peoples’ identity in their social and cultural life. A majority of the population in Bangladesh at present are functionally landless. While women constitute about 48.5% of the total population, 70 percent of them have no ownership of land. Social, cultural and religious bias against women’s ownership of land remain a formidable challenge which reflect in the current legal dispositions too that are heavily tilted against them."