Report - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

discriminate against people who have secondary and tertiary rights under customary law (many <strong>of</strong>
whom are women). This is a growing category due to <strong>the</strong> increase in inter-clan marriages. Only those
under whose name <strong>the</strong> land is registered will benefit from such a system. Such a system <strong>of</strong> land
registration will wipe out o<strong>the</strong>r forms <strong>of</strong> customary ownership and access to land. O<strong>the</strong>r countries in
<strong>the</strong> Pacific are attempting to model <strong>the</strong> Native Land Title Board and Fiji system <strong>of</strong> land tenure, but
<strong>the</strong>re are concerns about whe<strong>the</strong>r this system adequately protects women’s rights. Women need access
to international human rights information to counter not only patterns <strong>of</strong> traditional discrimination,
but also <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> rights under new systems <strong>of</strong> land and home ownership.
While on <strong>the</strong> one hand cultural attitudes perpetuate discrimination against women, women are also
working against <strong>the</strong> breakdown <strong>of</strong> cultural values in <strong>the</strong> Pacific, in particular holistic values that
promote respect and unity between men and women with regard to living on <strong>the</strong> land and using
resources. In Papua New Guinea, while <strong>the</strong> constitution gives people <strong>the</strong> right to own land, many are
selling <strong>the</strong>ir land to make short-term financial gains.
A human rights approach
“If women knew that <strong>the</strong>y had rights we would have a different situation” (Betty Blake, Tonga)
Even though <strong>the</strong>re are strong cultural beliefs that favour <strong>the</strong> ownership <strong>of</strong> land by men, sensitive lawmakers
and magistrates could make necessary changes in practice. For instance, individual judges
(particularly if <strong>the</strong>y are foreign judges such as those that operate in <strong>the</strong> Cook Islands) may be able
to give positive interpretations for women’s rights to land, particularly in cases where widows have
been accused <strong>of</strong> adultery. This has been seen in <strong>the</strong> community paralegal programme where community
paralegals have been lobbying and convincing <strong>the</strong> police and chief magistrate to uphold people’s human
rights. Training programmes for law enforcers on women’s rights have met with success and should
be expanded to legislators, judges, and lawyers.
“Solomon Islands has signed CEDAW and CRC. But our community leaders are not aware
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Conventions’ obligations. I spoke with 60 chiefs about human rights, only five <strong>of</strong>
whom were women. This was <strong>the</strong> first awareness raising for chiefs done in an effort to
engage <strong>the</strong>ir support for introducing changes to culture. After talking about human rights
<strong>the</strong> male chiefs were very angry. They said, “It is our god given right to be leaders –
men have <strong>the</strong> right to decide anything and women should follow”. As a result, men have
made decisions about <strong>the</strong> land including using it for mining, logging and development
projects. The women chiefs responded “it is our god given right to own <strong>the</strong> land and you
cannot decide on our right.” This illustrates that when women learn about <strong>the</strong>ir rights,
<strong>the</strong>y can start claiming <strong>the</strong>ir rights. We are now working with women on how to use a
rights-based approach to ensure women can decide about <strong>the</strong>ir lands. We need more
action on awareness raising and lobbying about discriminatory cultural and religious
practices and later we can change <strong>the</strong> laws.” (Solomon Islands)
Advocacy and awareness amongst lawyers, <strong>the</strong> judiciary and police could lead to an improvement
in <strong>the</strong> situation for women’s land rights. In Fiji, even though traditionally only men take part in village
meetings, as a result <strong>of</strong> human rights training with chiefs, <strong>the</strong>y have started to include women in <strong>the</strong>ir
meetings. In some areas women now attend <strong>the</strong> provincial board meetings, are members <strong>of</strong> district
boards, village committees and school committees, and are also becoming more vocal. Overall, <strong>the</strong>re
is less resistance to women’s human rights.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 45