| dc.description.abstract | Women account for 50.3 per cent of the national population but face challenges in
accessing and controlling land resources. Whether in education, employment, and land
rights or seeking health, women tend to be disadvantaged. The purpose of the study was
to analyze the relationship between land reforms in Kenya and gender based violence.
One of the most important and immediate motivations for this research are challenges
facing women on matters on land and land acquisition and control. Specifically, the study
aimed to find out the relationship between equitable access to land and gender based
violence; establish the relationship between customary practices pertaining to land rights;
establish the relationship between protection of right to property and GBV and explore
challenges facing women in effective land disputes resolution in courts in Nyeri County
on matters pertaining to land inheritance and how it relates to GBV. Descriptive survey
design was used. The study targeted women who have been marginalized pertaining to
land inheritance and land ownership through customary practices. The researcher used
purposive Sampling that allowed the researcher to use 45 cases that had the required
information with respect to observed that the objectives of the research. Researcher used
questionnaires to collect data. The following is a summary of the findings. The study
found that 50% of the participants indicated that the in-laws were in charge of decisions
on use of land. The study found that a significant number (93%) of respondents did not
possess a title deed to their piece of land. A significant number (95%) of participants had
experienced threats on land related matters. The study found that there was a significant
relationship (p=0.046) between equitable access to land and gender based violence at
95% confidence level; there was also a significant relationship (p=0.037) between
protection of rights to property and gender based violence at 95% confidence level. In
addition there was a significant relationship (p=0.044) between customary practices and
gender based violence. The researcher concluded that women had no equitable access to
land and this created conflicts when they tried to inherit land from heir matrimonial or
husband’s family land. The researcher also concluded that women had no protection of
rights to property in that they did not have a title deed to their land. The researcher
concluded that customary laws were a source of conflict; women were not included in the
will to inherit land. The researcher recommended that the government should create
awareness among the citizenry on the right of women to inherit land. The researcher also
recommended that the law should make it illegal for persons to use land which they do
not have a title deed to. | en_US |
