The number of women with land ownership certificate has reached 4,300 in Bajhang after government promotion among the populace in the district to make joint ownership of land, the District Land Revenue Office (DLRO) record shows. A total of 34,456 people have land ownership certificates in the district.

Officer at the DLRO Krishna Bahadur Bohara said the number of women with land ownership certificates was even fewer in the past. “The number has increased after the government announced discounts of 25 percent on registration in the name of women in the municipalities and 50 percent in the rural municipalities,” said Bohara.

Nowadays, women in Bajhang are also obtaining joint land ownership documents with their husband. They feel empowered after receiving joint land ownership document these days.

“I am pleased to have the joint land ownership certificate. I feel more independent and confident now,” says Jamuna Okheda of Masta Rural Municipality-2.

While Okheda has a sense of entitlement, “many women still don’t have land ownership certificates in their names,” she says.

Another woman Hansu Devi Sunar of Masta-2 is also planning to follow Okheda’s footsteps. “I have pressured my husband Dhanlal to make a joint land ownership certificate. Hopefully, it will end my family dispute,” says Hansu Devi.

Many still endure violence in the district though, with the right activists conceding that they are unable to provide justice to the victimised women as they do not have important legal documents including marriage registration, citizenship.

Jayanti Joshi, chairperson of the Women Rights Forum, an NGO, said many perpetrators in cases related to violence against women were freed as women do not have necessary legal documents in Bajhang.

A total of 402 cases related violence against women were reported in the district over the last three years, she said.

According to the District Administration Office data, out of 5,203 citizenship certificates distributed last year, 2,298 women obtained the citizenship. However, the women outnumber men by 11,000 in the district.