Abstract
While laws promoting gender equality exist to protect property rights for women in Kenya, such laws often clash with ingrained patriarchal ideas about gender roles within specific Kenyan communities. The lack of access to the criminal justice system and prioritizing safety over property interfere with Kenyan women's rights to their land. Social and cultural norms favoring men and the wealthy further disadvantage women economically and those with HIV/AIDS or single and or widowed. This study highlights the structural and cultural barriers to why women living in various regions of Kenya lack title deeds. Through interviews with 45 women participating in the HIV Women Equality Empowerment Program (WEEP), findings reveal that when laws may be equitable, justice is not possible when patriarchal belief systems shape social relations, and a corrupt criminal justice system is in place. None of the women interviewed held inherited or jointly owned title deeds due to challenges beyond the issue of the land itself. Women experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, or violence against their children and, thus, had to prioritize their safety or their children's safety over land ownership. The criminal justice system did not protect them from gender-based violence in ways that allowed them to be safe enough to fight for their property rights. This research calls for further investigation on the intersection of gender-based violence and property rights, implementation of health education programs, and increased access to legal assistance for vulnerable women.