Women in Chad defy discrimination and violence to assert their rights to own and control land

BINMAR, Chad (AP) — When Milla Nemoudji, a 28-year-old from a village in southern Chad, divorced her husband following years of physical abuse, she found herself without means for survival. Though raised in a farming family, she struggled to get by in a community where access to land is customarily controlled by men.

With little support for women in her situation, divorce being relatively rare in Chad, she fought for economic independence. She sold fruits and other goods. During the rainy season, she plowed fields as a laborer. Last year, however, a women’s collective arrived in her village and she decided to join, finally gaining access to land and a say over its use. She farmed cotton, peanuts and sesame, making enough money to cover basic needs.

The village, Binmar, is on the outskirts of Chad’s second-largest city, Moundou, in the densely populated Logone Occidental region. Thatched-roof homes stand amid fields where women traditionally harvest the land but, like Nemoudji, have little or no say over it.

In Chad, land access is often controlled by village chiefs who require annual payments. Women are often excluded from land ownership and inheritance, leaving them dependent on male relatives and reinforcing their secondary status in society.

The struggle for land rights is compounded by the dual legal system in Chad where customary law often supersedes statutory law, especially in rural areas. While recent legal reforms mean laws recognize the right of any citizen to own land, application of those laws is inconsistent.

For women like Nemoudji who seek to assert their rights, the response can be hostile.

“There’s no one to come to your aid, although everyone knows that you are suffering,” Nemoudji told The Associated Press, criticizing the traditional system of land rights and urging local leaders to take domestic violence seriously. “If women weren’t losing access to farmlands, they would dare to leave their husbands earlier."

Initiatives like N-Bio Solutions, the collective Nemoudji joined, are challenging those norms. Founded by Adèle Noudjilembaye in 2018, an agriculturist and activist from a neighboring village, the collective is a rare initiative in Chad negotiating on behalf of women with traditional chiefs, who then seek out residents with available land willing to lease it.

So far, Noudjilembaye runs five such collectives with an average 25 members. Although these initiatives are slowly gaining popularity, they are limited by financial resources and some women's hesitancy to risk the little they have.

Noudjilembaye told the AP that “despite the violence and neglect, many women stay (in that situation) because of financial dependency, fear of societal judgement or lack of support.”

The efforts of such collectives have broader implications for both gender equality and sustainable agriculture in Chad. Women of Binmar have adopted sustainable farming practices including crop rotation, organic farming and the use of drought-resistant seeds, which help preserve the soil and increase productivity.

In general, women who gain access to land and resources are more likely to implement sustainable agricultural practices and improve local food systems, according to the United Nations.

But in Chad, life for women who attempt to assert their rights is especially challenging.

Chad is ranked 144th out of 146 countries, according to the 2024 Global Gender Gap Indicator Report compiled by World Economic Forum. The country's maternal mortality rate is high at 1,063 deaths per 100,000 births in 2020, over three times the global average, according to the U.N. Only 20% of young women are literate.

For Nemoudji, her family’s response to her plight was mostly passive. They offered her a place to stay and provided emotional support but did little to confront her abuser or seek justice on her behalf.

“The system failed me when I sought help after my husband burned down my house,” Nemoudji said. When she reported the incident to the village chief, “nothing was done to solve my dispute.”

Village chief Marie Djetoyom, a woman in the hereditary role, told the AP that she was afraid to take action and risk being imprisoned in retaliation. She asserted that she must act within the customary land laws.

Despite the lack of support from traditional leaders and local authorities, women in the village of around 120 people have found strength in the collective.

“As cultural practices do not favor access to land for many women individually, the community alternative remains the best possibility to achieve the objective," said Innocent Bename, a researcher at CEREAD, a research center based in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.

Marie Depaque, another village woman who struggled to get by after her second husband refused to financially support her children from her first marriage, added that “our fight for land rights is not just about economic survival but also about justice, equality and the hope for a better future."

Nemoudji dreams of better educational opportunities for the children in her community so they can break the cycle of poverty and violence. She advocates in the community for changes in the land ownership system.

“Knowing my rights means I can seek help from authorities and demand justice,” she said.

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The village chief Marie Djetoyom sits in a chair in the village of Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

Farmers plant rice at a farm in Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

Josephine Noubarangal, a mother of six children, who suffered from violence is photographed outside her house in Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

Adele Noudjilembaye, right, a local agriculturist and an activist talks to other women in a village of Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

Women are transported by a bullock cart in the village of Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

Marthe Noudjinaibaye, a mother of six children, is photographed at her farm in Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

32 year old Marie Depaque, a mother of four children, gestures as she is photographed at the village of Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

32 year old Marie Depaque, a mother of four children, draws water from a well at the village of Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

28-year-old Milla Nemoudji, a woman who was divorced by her husband following years of physical abuse, is photographed in a village of Binmar, Chad, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia county's emergency call center was overwhelmed by calls on Sept. 4 about a school shooting at Apalachee High School, records released Friday by Barrow County show.

Local news organizations report many of the 911 phone calls were not released under public record requests because state law exempts from release calls recording the voice of someone younger than 18 years old. That exemption would cover calls from most of the 1,900 students at the school in Winder, northeast of Atlanta.

Calls spiked around 10:20 a.m., when authorities have said that 14-year-old Colt Gray began shooting. Many calls were answered with automated message saying there was a “high call volume," WAGA-TV reported.

One man called 911 after receiving text messages from a girlfriend. He was put on hold for just over 10 minutes because of an influx of calls at the time of the shooting, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“She hears people yelling outside, so I don’t know if that’s officers in the building or that’s — I don’t know,” he said, adding that she was eventually evacuated out of the school.

Other adults also called 911 after their children contacted them.

“My daughter calling me crying. Somebody go ‘boom, boom, boom, boom,’ ” one mother said. The 911 operator responded: “Ma’am we have officers out there, OK?”

Parents of students at an elementary school and middle school neighboring Apalachee also flooded 911 seeking information.

“Sir, my daughter goes to school next door to Apalachee. Is there a school shooter?" one caller asked.

“We do have an active situation (at) Apalachee High School right now," the operator responded. "We have a lot of calls coming in.”

More than 500 radio messages between emergency personnel were also released Friday.

“Active shooter!” an officer yells in one audio clip while speaking with a dispatcher, CNN reported. Another officer responds, “Correct. We have an active shooter at Apalachee High School.”

The shooting killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, as well as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of those hit by gunfire.

Colt Gray is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his father, Colin Gray, alleging that he gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.

The 13,000 students at Barrow County’s other schools returned to class Tuesday. The 1,900 students who attend Apalachee are supposed to start returning the week of Sept. 23, officials said Friday.

Mourners listen to a speaker during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

This combo of images show shooting victims, from left, Christian Angulo, Mason Schermerhorn, Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, displayed at a memorial outside Apalachee High School, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)

Two students view a memorial as the flags fly half-staff after a shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

911 calls overwhelmed operators after shooting at Georgia's Apalachee High School

911 calls overwhelmed operators after shooting at Georgia's Apalachee High School

Students and parents walk off campus at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. A shooting at the Georgia high school Wednesday caused an unknown number of injuries and a suspect was arrested in a chaotic scene. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)