Women struggle to have equal access to property

Times are changing and new government measures supporting women's economic rights are sustaining the momentum.

By Muhamet Brajshori in Pristina, Menekse Tokyay in Istanbul and Ivana Jovanovic in Belgrade for Southeast European Times -- 18/12/12

Women in Kosovo, like widower Fahrije Hoti of Krusha (centre), increasingly want to use their legal right to inherit and own property. [AFP]

Governments in Southeast Europe and Turkey are advancing reforms to overcome traditional barriers that stifle women from inheriting and owning property and consequently obtaining capital to develop their own businesses, experts said.

In Serbia, women own 37 percent of the total property, but the percentage varies between 50 percent in Vojvodina and 13 percent in Presevo, where Albanians constitute a majority, according to the state's Geodetic Authority.

Far fewer women own property in Kosovo and Turkey, 8 and 9 percent respectively, which impedes their access to bank loans and entrepreneurship opportunities.

"For this reason, the Kosovo government developed and adopted the Strategy for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises 2012-2016, specifying objectives that will advance the position of women in business," Edi Gusia, monitoring and assessment chief at Kosovo's Agency of Gender Equality, told SETimes.

The measures include increased access for women entrepreneurs to the government's voucher programme and creating incentives for them to invest.

Women said societal expectations, though somewhat receding, is to create a family and waive the right to inheriting property.

Drita Kadriu, a housewife from Pristina, said men in her family usually inherited property, and her husband registered their property in his name only.

"This has been the tradition so far. It was considered shameful for a woman to keep her own family property. The few that did were often shunned by their families," Kadriu told SETimes.

"Times are changing and now I prefer my daughter to have her own property," she added.

Experts said that in traditional marriages, if a husband dies, the common property is inherited by the closest male relative -- his father, brother or son.

"Traditional conceptions are manifested especially in regard to inheritance. Boys mainly inherit parental property, while girls mostly refrain," Shemsi Krasniqi, head of the sociology department at the University of Pristina, told SETimes.

Krasniqi said the effects of the situation are negative and impede overall social development and prosperity.

"In Serbia, in most cases the property is registered only in one spouse's name even though spouses have joint ownership rights," Igor Isailovic, a Belgrade attorney, told SETimes.

As long as the ongoing political and economic reforms conducted by the Family and Social Affairs Ministry continue to empower women, the trend in Turkey will be reversed in the next generation, according to Turkan Dagoglu, vice chairwoman of the parliamentary family commission.

"One of the biggest barriers is access to capital because there is not a significant number of women having property registered in their own names. So, women who have no 'visible' real estate cannot obtain bank credit to set up businesses," Dagoglu told SETimes.

Gusia, however, said that despite the gains, women and girls in rural areas are more reluctant to use their legally-guaranteed right to inheritance. "It puts them in an unfavorable situation against men and boys to initiate their own businesses."

The missing link is awareness about women's rights and legal enforcement on inheritance, Krasniqi said. "Participation of women in parental property inheritance would affect its formation as a subject and as a relevant actor for social development and prosperity."

Source: SETimes.com