Paralegals help widows enforce their right to inherit land

Location: Région des Plateaux, Togo

Timeline: 2012 - 2014

In Togo, the right of women to inherit land has recently been included in the Code des personnes et de la famille, while customary law traditionally prevents widows from having a claim over their husband's assets and thus making them vulnerable, as their livelihoods depend on plots of family land to which they often have no access after their husband’s death. Paralegals help women at the local level to enforce their land rights and protect them from their in-laws. This not only helps them secure their rights as widows in accordance with national statutory law, but also prevents them from being abused and humiliated by their in-laws.