A/HRC/31/51 of Child (CRC), food access and adequacy for adult women and teenage girls are addressed only on behalf of pregnant and breastfeeding females . 15 16. The second disconnect concerns the structural separation of nutrition from the human right to adequate food, which has focused on increasing food production and not on broad and equal food access. UN treaty law, whether ICESCR, CEDAW or the Rights of Child (CRC), does not develop nutrition as constitutive of a right to food for all women, but rather for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, thus focusing on women in their reproductive role as mothers. 16 17. Women additionally face numerous legal barriers in domestic law, which prevents them from fully realizing their right to food, including property rights, land rights and intellectual property rights. These legal barriers also prevent women from maintaining livelihoods that provide sustainable incomes necessary to purchase food, thus challenging women’s right to food and ability to achieve food security. 18. Rather than enabling women to secure stable livelihoods, both formal and customary laws are often barriers to women’s economic independence. As noted by the FAO, “credit markets are not gender-neutral”, and women may find themselves prohibited from entering into contracts, opening bank accounts, or from entering into loan agreements. 17 19. Legal barriers also prevent men and women from equally benefiting from paid employment through the sanctioning of systems of overt discrimination against women in the workplace. As of 2014, 77 countries, out of 140 countries with reported data, still had legal restrictions on the type of paid employment activities available to women.18 Even when equal employment opportunities are available, equal pay is not: only 59 countries form the same sample of countries legally require equal pay for work of equal value. 19 20. Finally, legal barriers may force women to choose between domestic responsibilities and outside employment. As primary caretakers for children and households, women are not always permitted to engage in paid employment, and family and personal laws may prevent a woman from making employment decisions without her husband’s permission. Meanwhile, some countries featured highly discriminatory family laws that gave husbands authority over their wives in marriage including rights over property, and divorce filings. Women also often struggle with maternity protection and child care as those carrying the primary responsibility for domestic work. A. Property rights 1. Land Rights 21. One of the most substantial factors enabling women to thrive as food producers – either for income support or subsistence – is women's ability to own and access land. Unfortunately, the exclusion of women from land ownership is a global phenomenon. The 15 16 17 18 19 6 Ibid. Ibid pp 58-108 Op Cit. FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture Women In Agriculture – Closing the Gender Gap for Development”, Foreword, p. 33. World Bank 2015c. “Women, Business and the Law Database.” Accessed January 2015. Washington, DC: World Bank World Bank 2015c. “Women, Business and the Law Database.” Accessed January 2015. Washington, DC: World Bank.