JOURNAL OF CURRENT DISCOURSE AND RESEARCH (JCDR)

Women’s Land Rights and Resource Control in Oil-Rich Regions: A Legal and Socioeconomic Analysis

Abstract

This article presents a legal and socioeconomic analysis of the challenges confronting women's land rights and resource control in oil-rich regions. The study examines how the extractive industry's operations, often supported by formal legal frameworks, lead to the displacement of communities and the degradation of natural resources, disproportionately affecting women. The article highlights the persistent gap between legal protections for land ownership and the social realities that often exclude women from inheriting, owning, and controlling land. The socioeconomic analysis further demonstrates how these legal and customary impediments exacerbate women’s vulnerability, undermining their traditional livelihoods in farming and resource management, and marginalizing them from decision-making processes and compensation mechanisms. The findings argue for the urgent need for gender- responsive policies and a re-evaluation of legal frameworks to ensure equitable land tenure and resource governance, fostering sustainable development and social justice in these volatile economic zones.