Current international human rights legislation devotes significant attention to the protection and realization of women’s rights, but overlooks the importance of property rights as a foundation for all those that follow. Without specific property rights protections, women will continue to suffer severe impacts of such deprivation in every area of their lives, ranging from their health and safety to economic prosperity, reproductive rights, and political participation. Moreover, a lack of property rights for women starves entire communities of both overall well-being and productivity. International bodies must commit to legislation that provides for the common, narrow goal of protecting women’s property rights; specific, detailed protections for those rights; and means of legal enforcement so that women’s rights in general can progress at an appropriate pace around the globe. Various authors with the United Nations have highlighted the negative impacts of the current lack of protection in this arena, and others have called for more practicable legal protections. An international commitment embodying the aspects described in this paper could facilitate progress across the globe both regarding property and all the rights and liberties property lays ground for. 

The meeting of property theories and international human rights perspectives renders a space for change yet to be explored. If the international community recognizes how important property rights are for women, and affirms that importance through legislation, it could catalyze significant changes in many other areas of women’s rights and lead to crucial outcomes for women everywhere.