Of the total number of real estate in Serbia, only 25.6 percent are exclusively owned by women, according to data from the Republic Geodetic Authority.
These data were obtained in February 2021 as part of the process of preparing the Independent Report on the Implementation of the Priority Recommendations of the CEDAW Committee addressed to Serbia.
Data and information were collected by the SeConS Development Initiative Group, within the preparation of the Independent Report of the SOS Vojvodina Network on the implementation of priority recommendations submitted to Serbia by the CEDAW Committee, for the period 2019-2021.
In the case of 0.3 percent of real estate, it is a joint property. Women are co-owners in 12.8% of real estate in which there is co-ownership – property of two or more persons on the same real estate.
Observed by type of real estate, women are: exclusive owners in 24.2 percent of lots, exclusive owners in 25.6 percent of all buildings and exclusive owners in 42.6 percent of special parts of buildings.
Out of the total number of lots, 0.1% is in joint ownership, and out of the total number of buildings, 0.7% is in joint ownership. In the total number of buildings where there is co-ownership, women appear as co-owners in 12.3 percent of lots, 15.8 percent of buildings and 8.2 percent of special parts of buildings.
If we look at the data on the basis of the acquisition of real estate, women own 40.4 percent of all property acquired by inheritance. In the total property acquired as a gift, women own 36.3 percent, and out of all property acquired through purchase and sale, women own 43.7 percent.
Although Serbian laws governing property and inheritance treat women and men equally, customary patriarchal norms, inheritance patterns that still often benefit male heirs, and the generally weaker economic position of women (due to lower employment, lower wages) lead to men still being dominant among landowners and real estate owners, especially in rural areas.
The project “Women’s NGOs – pioneers in defining tools for monitoring the implementation of GREVIO and CEDAW recommendations to Serbia to stop violence against women”, is implemented with the financial support of the European Union and the programme: “Stopping violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey: implementing norms, changing minds “conducted by the UN Women office in Serbia with the financial support of the European Union.
