A/HRC/7/16 page 20 69. Inequitable land ownership patterns and landlessness give rise to a host of interrelated problems that range from inadequate housing and lack of livelihood options, to poor health, hunger and food insecurity, and acute poverty. The growing control of land by corporate enterprises and the accompanying industrialization of agriculture tend to displace the poor to marginal areas for farming, and threaten social and ecological sustainability.41 Access to land is also critical for building socio-economic security. Many Governments and donor agencies fail to understand the important role that landlessness often plays in poverty and marginalization. This is evident in the low priority given to land and agrarian reform. This situation has given rise to well-organized movements of landless peasants and rural workers who are bringing agrarian reform to national and international policy debates, often at great personal risk, including to their lives. 70. The failure of States to provide legal security of tenure and to legally recognize the land and housing rights of communities makes them vulnerable to forced evictions. Globally, the trend to evict communities in the name of city beautification, urban renewal, industrialization and development-based activities, including mining or the building of dams and other infrastructures, has been accelerating. 71. In many countries, the control and ownership of land, especially in rural areas, by women is critical to their livelihoods, food security, economic independence and physical security, including of their children. Women, however, own only an estimated 1 to 2 per cent of all titled land worldwide, which is often cited as the result of low levels of inheritance of property by women.42 72. With the growing migration of men to urban areas in search of employment in many countries, it is mainly women who continue to farm in rural areas. This rising “feminization of agriculture” further heightens the importance of guaranteeing women’s land rights. 73. The studies and consultations on women and housing conducted by the Special Rapporteur, including testimonies from women, reveal widespread violation of women’s rights to adequate housing and land.43 On several occasions, the Special Rapporteur has expressed concern regarding the prevalence of cultural norms and traditions that deprive women of their rights to land, inheritance and property, which in turn prevents them from accessing their right to adequate housing. Of particular concern is the reflection of discriminatory cultural and social norms in family or personal law, including uncodified laws. 41 E/CN.4/2005/48. 42 Women in Development, Bureau for Global Programs, Field Support and Research and United States Agency for International Development, Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights: Improving Lives in Changing Times. Final Synthesis and Conference Proceedings Paper (2003). 43 See E/CN.4/2003/55, E/CN.4/2005/43 and E/CN.4/2006/118.