Engaging with the Principle of Non-discrimination to Protect Women’s Land Rights in Tanzania

This article underlines how the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sex has been applied as a tool for enhancing women’s land rights in Tanzania. Despite the fact that the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania and various statutory laws guarantee equality and non-discrimination, implementation gaps remain and women continue to face barriers in land ownership and control, particularly in rural areas where customary law and patriarchal practices prevail. The research was motivated by persistent gender-based disparities in ownership and control of land, rooted in customary practices, patriarchal norms, and weak enforcement of relatively gender-sensitive statutory laws. Contribution is made through a review of current legal framework and scholarly documents relating to women’s land rights in Tanzania. The study places particular focus on examining how courts have been engaging with the constitutional and human rights principle of non-discrimination to address the problem of gender discrimination which exists in customary law governing land relations. It also provides an overview of challenges associated with enforcement of women’s right to non-discrimination in land rights and suggests some measures aimed at bridging the gap between legal guarantees and realities on the ground to alleviate gender-based discrimination in access to land and control over land. It is argued that advancing women’s land rights in Tanzania requires not only legal reforms and sustained application of the non-discrimination principle, but also transformative approaches to address patriarchal norms, and intensified campaigns for imparting knowledge of land rights and human rights among men and women.