Abstract:
Jennifer Brown is a staff attorney at the Rural Development Institute ("RDI"), Seattle, Washington
(jenniferb@rdiland.org). Abstract: In Java, Indonesia, only about one-third of land title certificates reflect
ownership by women. This lack of registered land ownership can potentially harm
women by depriving them of influence within the household and leaving them vulnerable
in cases of divorce or a spouse's death. This Article argues that effective land
registration mechanisms and legal and social recognition of women's property rights all
play a critical role in protecting women's ownership interests.
Interviews with landowners and government officials in Java reveal that Indonesia's
land registration processes do not effectively advance ownership rights granted under the
nation's family law. Despite the government's efforts to educate the public about land
registration, few women are aware of the registration procedures. Field studies also
indicate that confusion regarding co-ownership rights exists even among government
officials.
Despite the fact that Indonesia's land registration processes do not reinforce the
nation's family law, Indonesian women's property interests are not compromised. First,
formal procedures for the transfer of land protect women when land is sold or divided.
Second, customary Javanese practices recognize and protect the concept of marital
community property. This Article concludes, however, that in other developing
countries, incongruence between legal property rights and land registration systems may
effectively weaken women's land ownership interests.
