Feminist Movements in Southeast Asia: Climate, Agriculture, and Land Rights

Introduction

Throughout Southeast Asia, the intersecting crises of climate change, agricultural transformation, and land dispossession are deeply gendered. These challenges disproportionately impact women, particularly those from Indigenous and rural communities, who often bear the brunt of environmental catastrophe while carrying the burden of care and nurturing work. From rising sea levels that threaten coastal livelihoods to land seizures that displace farming communities, women of Southeast Asia are on the frontlines: safeguarding essential resources and adapting to rapidly changing conditions in pursuit of well-being for everyone. Given these realities, the issues of climate, agriculture, and land justice in Southeast Asia must be examined through a feminist lens—one that foregrounds power relations, challenges patriarchal structures, and centers women’s agency in environmental governance and sustainable development.

This article situates these challenges within the framework of Feminist Political Ecology (FPE), which explores how gender, power, and environmental dynamics shape access to resources and influence decision-making processes. More importantly, this framework emphasizes feminist methodologies that recognize resistance as emerging from practices of care, healing, and Indigeneity (that is, the realities of peoples whose deep ancestral rooted and lifeways connected to a land long predate the formation of modern states.) Such approaches open new avenues for mobilization—from formal civil society organizations (CSOs) to informal networks of Indigenous women, youth climate activists, and grassroots community groups—whose efforts extend beyond advocacy for gender equality to transformative action in environmental and land justice.

The following sections explore, first, how feminist political ecology helps illuminate the gendered dimensions of land and climate struggles. Then, it maps the regional landscape where these issues converge; and exemplify through case studies from Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, highlighting women-led local leadership and movement tactics. Also, the article outlines cross-cutting challenges such as civic space restrictions and patriarchal gatekeeping. Furthermore, it also showcases strategic wins and alliances. The article concludes by reaffirming the centrality of feminist movements to climate justice, sustainable food systems, and rights of land in Southeast Asia.

The Feminist Political Ecology Lens 

Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) emerges at the intersection of feminist thought and political ecological theory, foregrounding gender as a critical lens through which environmental issues are understood. It emphasizes the importance of social, political, and economic contexts in shaping decision-making processes related to environmental policies and practices. FPE highlights how intersections of class, caste, race, culture, and ethnicity influence access to and control over natural resources, shape ecological transformations, and affect the ability of people regardless of gender to sustain ecologically viable livelihoods.[i]

In Southeast Asia, FPE is useful to highlight how gendered labor in food systems—often unpaid and undervalued—intersects with environmental shocks, deepening vulnerabilities for women, especially in rural and indigenous communities.[ii] Unpaid care work intensifies during crises, limiting women’s adaptive capacity. Tenure insecurity further weakens their bargaining power over land and resources. These dynamics are shaped by intersecting identities such as indigeneity, class, migrant status, and education, which influence access to knowledge, institutions, and decision-making.[iii] Here, FPE calls for recognizing these layered inequalities to inform more just, resilient, and inclusive environmental governance and transformations of the food system.

Recent developments in FPE emphasize care, healing, and indigeneity as central to rethinking environmental and economic systems. A focus on care challenges patriarchic extractive growth models, advocating for redistribution, relational living, and environmental resilience.[iv] FPE also highlights how colonial legacies and neo-colonial challenges shape governance and resource access, calling for decolonial approaches that center healing and community, indigenous knowledge.[v] Indigeneity, as a framework, reveals the capitalist logic and settler colonialist violence of land dispossession, offering rooted, context-specific alternatives to dominant paradigms. Together, these perspectives push for plural, justice-oriented pathways toward sustainability and policy transformation.[vi]

Care, healing, and indigeneity are foundational concepts for understanding the local context of feminist social movements and activism over land, agriculture, and climate justice. In this region, land is not merely a legal asset—it is deeply embedded in social relations, power structures, cultural identity, and spiritual belonging. Feminist Political Ecology emphasizes that secure land tenure enables individuals—especially women, indigenous communities, and other marginalized groups—to make autonomous decisions about land use, invest in sustainable agricultural practices, and assert governance within households and communities. However, without genuine control or decision-making power, formal ownership alone does not translate into meaningful rights.[vii] FPE-informed movements in Southeast Asia integrate care and healing as political practices—restoring communities affected by environmental degradation, displacement, and colonialist and extractivist violence. These movements also center indigeneity, recognizing indigenous knowledge systems, ancestral relationships to land, and spiritual ecologies as vital to resisting colonial and capitalist land regimes. Activists employ community organizing, legal aid, direct action, eco-defense, and storytelling to challenge environmental injustice. These tactics are rooted in intersectional, place-based resistance and often involve alliance-building with youth climate networks to amplify voices and scale impact. Such strategies reflect a commitment to decolonial, feminist, and ecological justice, emphasizing lived experience, collective memory, and intergenerational solidarity.[viii]

Regional Landscape: Where Gender Meets Land and Climate 

Rural communities in Southeast Asia heavily depend on agriculture for livelihoods, food security, and cultural identity, shaping land use and ecological practices. In Cambodia, for example, over 70% of the rural workforce is employed in agriculture, with women playing a central role.[ix] They are involved in planting, harvesting, livestock care, and post-harvest processing. Many manage small farms and participate in market activities.[x]

Despite their vital contributions to agriculture, women in Cambodia continue to face deep-rooted structural inequalities in land access, ownership, and decision-making. Gender gaps in agricultural land use and household control reflect broader regional patterns of patriarchal resource governance. These disparities are reinforced by entrenched inheritance norms, ambiguous legal frameworks, and cultural expectations that favor male landholders. Customary practices and unclear laws often prevent women from claiming or inheriting land—even when they are the primary cultivators.[xi] In an Indigenous community, rapid agrarian change and land commodification have weakened women’s land rights. Shifts from matrilineal to bilateral inheritance systems, driven by socio-economic pressures, have reduced women’s access to land and decision-making power. Customary laws, once protective, now contribute to unequal gender relations. These changes heighten women’s vulnerability amid land scarcity and social differentiation, especially as mainstream gender norms become more restrictive.[xii]

Despite ongoing gender equality efforts, leadership in technical sectors like environment, agriculture, and land governance across Southeast Asia remains predominantly male, reinforcing women’s marginalization. In Cambodia, women are underrepresented in decision-making positions across these sectors, even as they lead gender-focused civil society organizations (CSOs). In the neighboring country of Vietnam, women hold only 23% of formal jobs and 21% of leadership positions in green sectors such as solar energy, rice production, and recycling.[xiii] Across Southeast Asia, although women comprise 34–40% of the workforce in the private tech sector, only 23% hold senior leadership roles, and just 8% occupy technical leadership positions.[xiv] In national level, only 6% of environment-related ministries across ASEAN had a female minister in 2020, meaning 94% were headed by men.[xv]

Cultural norms and occupational stereotypes continue to shape perceptions of leadership, reinforcing male dominance in technical fields. Meanwhile, women-led CSOs play a critical role in advancing gender-responsive policies, especially in climate change, peacebuilding, and land rights advocacy. However, their influence is often limited to grassroots or advisory roles, with minimal representation in formal policymaking bodies. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge emerging signs of progress. Women are increasingly present within ministries and higher civil-service ranks, including positions such as state secretaries, even if they remain underrepresented overall.[xvi] Furthermore, growing collaboration between younger generations of state employees and their counterparts in women-led CSOs, creating new informal alliances that strengthen policy dialogue and open opportunities for gender-responsive reforms.[xvii] These developments do not guarantee impact, but they represent meaningful achievements that deserve recognition. For all that, bridging this gap requires structural reforms, inclusive leadership pipelines[xviii], and recognition of women’s expertise beyond traditional gender domains.[xix]

Women’s central role in Southeast Asia’s rural agriculture contrasts sharply with their limited land rights and leadership in technical sectors. These structural inequalities—shaped by legal, cultural, and institutional barriers—set the stage for a deeper analysis of country-specific dynamics in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam in the following section.

Country Cases

Indonesia

In 2025, Indigenous women across Indonesia continued to stand at the frontline of environmental defense, confronting extractive industries and climate injustice with resilience and wisdom. From the highlands of Mollo to the island ecosystems of Banggai Kepulauan, their leadership has become a cornerstone of grassroots resistance. Aleta Baun, known as “Mama Aleta,” remains a symbol of peaceful protest. Her legacy—leading 150 women to quietly weaving their traditional cloth on the marble rocks at a West Timor mining site for a year—continues to inspire a new generation of Indigenous women leaders. At the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (HIMAS) 2025 gathering in Kasepuhan Guradog indigenous community in Lebak, Banten, just Southwest outside of Jakarta, she joined other female leaders like Rosina from Aru and Ijah Khodijah from Guradog to consolidate strategies for defending customary lands and food sovereignty.[xx]

In Banggai Kepulauan, Deslin Kalaeng, a community elder from Komba-Komba, led efforts to block limestone mining threatening karst forests and agricultural lands. Her community, reliant on traditional farming and fishing, views the proposed mining as a direct threat to their survival. “Tambang adalah jalan sesat kesejahteraan (Mining is a lost path to prosperity),” she declared, rejecting the false promises of development.[xxi]

Women’s groups across Indonesia are also reclaiming degraded lands and protecting coastal ecosystems. In Jambi, east coast of central Sumatra, Nyai Jusmawati and other agrarian activists have resisted land grabs by timber companies, cultivating ancestral lands and demanding reform. Jusmawati, a member of Serikat Tani Tebo, famously led a protest by climbing bulldozers to stop land clearing near her farm.[xxii]

Through a feminist lens, these acts of resistance are not merely environmental—they are existential. Women bear disproportionate burdens of climate change, from food insecurity to increased exposure to gender-based violence during disasters. A recent study confirms that women are 14 times more likely to die in climate-related disasters than men, highlighting the gendered dimensions of climate vulnerability.[xxiii] Faith-based women’s organizations like Aisyiyah and Muslimat NU have embraced eco-theology, integrating religious values with climate adaptation strategies. Their work underscores the moral imperative of environmental stewardship and gender justice, promoting sustainable practices rooted in spiritual teachings.[xxiv]

As Indonesia faces rising deforestation and climate risks, Indigenous women are not just victims—they are visionaries. Their leadership must be recognized, resourced, and protected to ensure a just and sustainable future.

Cambodia

In Cambodia, women continue to lead grassroots resistance against forced evictions and land grabs, often at great personal risk. The Boeung Tamok Lake community in Phnom Penh remains a central example of grassroots resistance to state-backed development. In the Samrong Tbong community, women have led efforts to defend their homes—camping on contested land, organizing watch groups, submitting petitions, and holding demonstrations against forced evictions. According to the Traces of Development on the Boeung Tamok Lake report (December 2024), 26 residents have been sued, including 19 women, many charged during or immediately after the demolition of their homes. Despite international recognition, these women continue to face legal harassment, surveillance, and ongoing eviction threats, illustrating the disproportionate risks borne by women human rights defenders in land disputes.[xxv] Even so, the community remains resilient and has adapted its strategies to address the remaining lawsuits.

These women are not alone. Across Cambodia, female land defenders have organized sit-ins, blocked roads, and resisted relocation schemes that offer inadequate compensation and strip communities of their livelihoods. A LICADHO (Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights) report titled “Good Wives” from 2014 documents the emotional, economic, and familial toll of activism on Cambodian women, revealing how many faces domestic violence and social stigma for stepping into leadership roles.[xxvi]

A more recent example involves the youth-led environmental organization Mother Nature Cambodia, which has collaborated closely with women activists on environmental protection efforts. In 2024, ten members were convicted under charges related to public order and national security following activities linked to their environmental advocacy. The group has previously raised concerns about issues such as sand extraction, deforestation, and pollution affecting Tonle Sap and Phnom Penh’s urban lakes.[xxvii]

Following these cases, several members were transferred to provincial detention facilities, which has made regular family visits and legal coordination more challenging. Women involved in community environmental work report experiencing heightened monitoring and administrative pressures. International observers, including Human Rights Watch (2025), note that Cambodia’s evolving civic space presents particular challenges for women and Indigenous communities engaged in land and environmental issues. These dynamics continue to shape how civil society organizations navigate their roles in local environmental governance.[xxviii]

Despite these challenges, Cambodian women remain steadfast. Their activism is not only about land—it’s about dignity, survival, and the right to shape their communities. As repression intensifies, international solidarity and protection mechanisms are urgently needed to support these defenders of justice.

Vietnam

In the highland regions of northern Vietnam, ethnic minority women are increasingly taking leadership roles in the movement for land justice. Historically marginalized by patriarchal customs and administrative barriers, these women are now organizing to secure their rights and reclaim ancestral lands. Two grassroots organizations—Culture Identity and Resource Use Management (CIRUM) and the Forest Peoples Land Rights Network (LandNet)—are central to this effort. CIRUM and LandNet work with ethnic groups such as the Hmong, Dao, Tay, and H’re, who face systemic challenges in accessing land. Many women lack legal documentation, are excluded from local decision-making processes, and must navigate complex bureaucratic procedures—often in Vietnamese, a language they may not speak fluently.

Gender norms further restrict their participation in land governance, reinforcing their exclusion from ownership and leadership roles. To address these issues, CIRUM and LandNet provide community-based training, legal advocacy, and participatory land mapping. These interventions help women understand their rights, engage with local authorities, and document customary land use. The goal is not only to secure land tenure but also to strengthen women’s roles in community development and environmental stewardship. As one LandNet member from the H’re community stated: “Land is life. Without it, we lose our culture, our food, our future.”[xxix]

Vietnam’s eco-feminist movement builds on a legacy of women’s involvement in resistance and nation-building during colonial and socialist periods. So far, the intersection of environmental degradation, land grabs, and gender inequality presents new challenges. For many ethnic minority women, defending forests and farmland is both an ecological and feminist act.[xxx] As Vietnam continues to modernize, ecofeminist advocates are calling for development models that prioritize sustainability, equity, and the lived experiences of women who have long served as stewards of the land.

Cross-Cutting Challenges

Across Southeast Asia, civic space is increasingly under siege. Environmental defenders face repression, harassment, and co-optation, particularly those advocating for land and resource justice. These pressures are not gender neutral. Through the lens of Feminist Political Ecology, we see how women environmental activists are disproportionately constrained by patriarchal and capitalist institutions, customary law, and systemic deficits in legal support and data.

In technical sectors such as forestry, water management, and land administration, patriarchal gatekeeping remains entrenched. Women are often excluded from leadership roles and decision-making forums. In Cambodia, women’s participation in forest governance is minimal due to cultural norms and lack of confidence in technical competencies, despite their deep ecological knowledge and daily engagement with forest resources. Programs like RECOFTC’s WAVES and Oxfam’s CREFA have begun to challenge these norms, but leadership bottlenecks persist.[xxxi]

Customary law and household power dynamics further restrict women’s land claims. In Laos, the 2019 Land Law removed the provision for joint land titling, weakening protections for married women and reinforcing patrilineal inheritance norms. Ethnic minority women in Vietnam’s northern highlands face dual marginalization—from patriarchal village structures and bureaucracies that do not accommodate local languages or customary practices. These dynamics erode women’s bargaining power and limit their ability to organize collectively.[xxxii]

Legal aid and data deficits compound these challenges. In Vietnam, while laws nominally support gender equality in land rights, enforcement is inconsistent. Many women lack documentation, face language barriers, and are unaware of legal recourse options. Community-based paralegal programs have shown promise but remain underfunded and unevenly distributed. Without gender-disaggregated data and accessible legal support, advocacy efforts struggle to build compelling cases.[xxxiii]

These multidirectional pressures—state repression, patriarchal exclusion, and systemic neglect—create a hostile terrain for women environmental activism. Feminist Political Ecology highlights how these are not isolated issues but part of a broader political economy of dispossession and silencing. It calls for civic space that centers women lived experiences, challenges technocratic elitism, and builds coalitions across class, ethnicity, and geography.[xxxiv]

To resist these trends, NGOs and grassroots movements could benefit from investing in gender-sensitive legal aid, community-based documentation, and leadership training for women advocates. Regional platforms should amplify stories from Laos, Vietnam, and beyond, showcasing how women navigate—and resist—these constraints. Only by confronting the gendered architecture of civic space can Southeast Asia’s environmental movements become truly inclusive and transformative.

Movement Strategies and Wins

Despite shrinking civic space and gendered barriers, feminist environmental movements in Southeast Asia have carved out powerful strategies to resist extractive projects and reclaim rights. From encampments to legal petitions, grassroots actors—especially women and youth—are reshaping the terrain of environmental justice. Direct action tactics such as blockades and encampments have proven effective in halting destructive projects. In Indonesia, Indigenous communities have used mapping of customary lands and community monitoring to assert territorial claims and expose illegal logging and mining. These tactics are often paired with legal mobilization, petitions, and alliances with NGOs to pressure authorities. In Cambodia and the Philippines, community-led environmental impact assessments have challenged opaque development processes and forced greater transparency.[xxxv]

Youth climate alliances have emerged as force multipliers. Malaysia’s Klima Action Malaysia (KAMY) organized the 2019 MY Climate Strike, gathering nearly 1,000 participants in Kuala Lumpur. KAMY’s feminist and rights-based approach has evolved to encompass policy advocacy, legal empowerment, and Indigenous solidarity. Notably, their contributions to Malaysia’s Universal Periodic Review resulted in recommendations for gender-responsive climate policies and enhanced environmental governance, which were adopted at the UN Human Rights Council.[xxxvi] They also provide advisory support to the Malaysian Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources on climate change.[xxxvii] Their success demonstrates how youth-led movements can shift narratives and build coalitions across sectors.

Indigenous women’s leadership has also become a durable frame for conservation and rights, such that “Mama Aleta” Baun who led the weaving protest to stop marble mining in West Timor, Indonesia. Her peaceful resistance, rooted in cultural tradition and gendered labor roles, forced mining companies to withdraw by 2010. Today, she continues to support communities in mapping forests and securing collective land titles, blending legal knowledge with Indigenous wisdom.[xxxviii]

These wins underscore the power of inter-movement alliances, creative protest, and community-driven governance. As Southeast Asia faces mounting ecological threats, these grassroots strategies offer a blueprint for inclusive, rights-based environmental action.

Conclusion

Feminist movements are not peripheral to climate action—they are indispensable to achieving just climate transitions and food security in Southeast Asia. By challenging patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist control over land, reshaping decision-making processes, and elevating Indigenous and women’s knowledge systems, these movements redefine what adaptation and resilience truly mean.[xxxix]

Women’s struggles for land and environmental justice across the region—from the weaving protests of Aleta Baun in Indonesia to legal aid initiatives for women in Vietnam—demonstrate extraordinary resilience. Yet this resilience must be matched with stronger protections, deeper solidarity, and sustained resources. Without legal safeguards, inclusive governance, and financial support, these movements risk being silenced or sidelined.

As Southeast Asia faces intensifying ecological and social crises, feminist political ecology offers not just critique, but vision—a roadmap for inclusive, rights-based, and ecologically sound futures. Supporting women-led movements is not charity; it is a strategic imperative for climate justice.
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Femnimitr is a collective of passionate, data-driven people consisting of development practitioners and independent researchers across the Majority World. Over the past five years, in addition to operating the Gender Knowledge Hub, Femnimitr has worked with policymakers, development practitioners, and feminist activists to produce research with robust, intersectional gender data across Southeast Asia.

Disclaimer: This published work was prepared with the support of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung. The views and analysis contained in the work are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the foundation. The author is responsible for any liability claims against copyright breaches of graphics, photograph, images, audio, and text used.