‘We can’t even buy our own land’: the Tongan women pushing for change

Ofa Ki Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki was attending a workshop on gender issues in Tonga many years ago when she came to a striking realisation: “If my father dies everything in our house, from the land to belongings, will automatically transfer to my brother.”

The 49-year-old went straight to her dad and said “if you die, I will inherit nothing. He looked at me with nothing to say, and I told him that it was really unfair.”

It marked the beginning of her journey as an advocate; Guttenbeil-Likiliki is now director of the Women and Children Crisis Centre in Tonga. The not-for-profit group supports survivors of violence and advocates for policy changes.

Next month the centre will be renamed Fefine To’a – meaning “the strength of a courageous Tongan woman” – and the organisation will make the push for women’s rights to own land one of its key priorities.

“We can’t even buy our own land, and even if we do, it has to be in our husbands’ names,” she says.

Under an 1875 law, women in Tonga are prohibited from owning land. The law also makes it difficult for women who marry non-Tongans to buy land together. Women can only inherit land in specific circumstances, such as when there are no male heirs, and they must remain unmarried.

Among others critical of the restrictions is Teisa Cokanasiga, a lawyer who works in Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa. Her husband is Fijian, meaning they can rent, but not own land.

“I had wanted to buy and own land under my name but because I am a woman and my husband is not of Tongan nationality, we could only lease,” says Cokanasiga.

The law makes it difficult for women to be financially independent. Cokanasiga says many women want to set up farming businesses “but not being able to own a piece of land discourages them because they’re only able to lease.”

Resistance to reform

Changing Tonga’s land laws would be a complex process requiring a shift in social attitudes, and past efforts for reform have been met with resistance.

Tonga and Palau are the only Pacific countries that have not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). There have been several attempts to ratify the CEDAW in Tonga over the last two decades, but these have failed. In 2015, public protests opposing ratification were held involving local church groups, and a petition of about 15,000 signatures was submitted to the King.

Cokanasiga says reforming the land system “would take a lot of consultations with the public and would have to change the minds of the majority of parliament and would also have to get through to the King, who gives the final say by giving his royal assent or not, before a law is made law.”

Earlier this year, Tonga’s minister of tourism and foreign affairs, Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu, told Pacific Media Network that she supports “the issue of equality and the opportunity for women to be able to make choices in terms of land ownership” but Tongans must “see how we can make the most benefit out of the current system.”

“We’ve had to look at what options are available to us to have some kind of legal ownership of land, and one of those options is to lease,” ‘Utoikamanu told Pacific Media Network.

A spokesperson for the government from the Crown Law office said there are no immediate plans to amend Tonga’s Land Act.

“The ownership of land for women in Tonga remains a challenge, and any changes to the Land Act will require extensive consultation with His Majesty the King and the people of Tonga,” the spokesperson said.

Despite these challenges, some women in Tonga remain determined to push for change. One not-for-profit called Ma’a Fafine Moe Famili is advocating and raising awareness on the need for women to have the right to own land.

Guttenbeil-Likiliki is also pushing for reform. She is organising women’s forums across Tonga to gather information on development issues, including land rights.

“Right now we’re having subnational women’s fono (a community meeting) across the outer islands, and then we’re going to end off with the national women’s fono here on the main island,” she says.

She hopes when the “findings are presented to parliament, the government will address these issues” in the coming years.

“Tongan women are finding opportunities in places like Australia and New Zealand because there isn’t enough option given for them here in Tonga,” Guttenbeil-Likiliki says.

“We need to change that before it’s too late.”