A/HRC/22/72 Being denied property and inheritance rights, with limited capacity to engage in contracts and trade, and little availability of resources to be exchanged, work and the capacity to produce goods remain the main asset rural women have to support themselves and their families and households.79 Although being the main asset, the agricultural work of women is not yet conducive of economic empowerment because of its lack of recognition in institutional and legislative frameworks. 56. The agricultural roles of women have changed as a consequence of migration.80 The out-migration of men may augment rural women’s workload. At the same time, women who migrate and who build households in urban areas maintain the perception that they belong to larger families in the rural areas and often send remittances.81 E. Case study: female-headed households 57. Female-headed households vary in structure. They can be female-maintained households, female-led, mother-centred, lone-mother or male-absent households. As to composition, this type of households may include single parents living alone with children, or grandmother-headed households.82 Several factors contribute to the formation of femaleheaded households, such as age differences between male and female at marriage, genderdifferentiated life-expectancy, land and property ownership, family and divorce legislation 83 as well as male and female infidelity, male alcohol abuse, intra-family violence, migration, armed conflicts, or rape taking place during such conflicts leaving girls and women rejected by their families.84 Moreover, historical, demographic and socio-economic factors have also influenced the formation of women-headed households. For instance in Kenya, colonial powers outsourced male labourers from colonial villages for European plantations and estates. The development of infrastructure in the colonies and military conscription also demanded the migration of men out of their households. 85 58. Based on women’s headship, two categories of households are known. De jure female-headed households establish women as the legal and customary heads and the absence of a male partner on a permanent basis. This category includes households headed by widows, unmarried, separated, or divorced women. De facto female-headed households refer to either the situation where the reported head of the household is the woman whose husband is also present, or where the reported head is the woman in the absence of the husband.86 59. These definitions also suppose limitations. The definitions assume that the husband is the main breadwinner and head of household. The definitions of women-headed households are based on the absence of a male partner, either temporarily as in the case of de facto women-headed households, or on a permanent basis as in the case of de jure women-headed households. These distinctions fail to take into consideration functions such as provision and management of resources that distinguish heads of households irrespective 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 UN-Women, note 25 above, p.11. Ibid., p. 7. K. Datta, C. McIlwaine, “Empowered leaders? Perspectives on women heading households in Latin America and Southern Africa”, 8 Gender and Development (2000), p. 45. Ibid., p. 40. S. Chant, “Households, Gender and Rural-Urban Migration: Reflections on Linkages and Considerations for Policy” 10 Environment and Urbanization (1998), p. 15. K. Datta, C. McIlwaine, supra note 81, p. 42. M.H. Clark, “Woman-headed Households and Poverty: Insights from Kenya”, 10 Chicago Journals (1984), pp. 341342. Submission by FAO, not dated. 15