Results for Tongan women

The Christian World Service, the aid and development agency of New Zealand churches, has launched an appeal to support the women of Ha‘apai and Vava‘u organising clean-up operations in Tonga after the destructive Cyclone Ian on January 11.

Tonga's Speaker called for the House to close early at 4:00 pm today, "because it has been a tough day," he said, after a group of petitioners insisted that the House make an immediate investigation of members salaries and pensions. By Pesi Fonua.

The fact that Mokofisi seems to forget is that it is one thing to have a "God given rights" and it is another issue all together to exercise these rights. Tonga's women realize that they have the "right to choose" their actions but will not be able to choose the consequences of these choices. -Sione Lousiale Kava

I entered into this debate to point out that the CEDAW vote in parliament was nothing more than a weathervane and that there is adequate evidence to warrant concern for the future of Tongan women in Tonga. The responses from some of your scribes have done little to change my view – in fact I'm even more convinced that the paradigm shift required is made more difficult by the Daniel K Fale's of this world. - Sefita Hao'uli

Fakatulou atu ka e 'ataa ke u lulululu mo Sefesi Lutui (Fakama . . . 05 Nov 2009). Malo 'etau lava tangata. 'Oku ou fiefia 'i ho'o tali mai 'eku tohi. Faka'amu na'ake 'i heni kae palu hata kava. -Sione A. Mokofisi

FROM OUR ARCHIVES: There was no looking back for Betty Blake after she accepted a challenge to help the women and children in Tonga who were being treated badly. Betty, who has been working extensively with women in the villages throughout Tonga since 1996, is sure that the first step for women to gain equality is for women to know their rights. “About 95% of the women who filled the questionnaire did not know their rights. They assumed that once they were married their husband owned everything they had, and therefore they had to be obedient, they believed ‘it is alright if he beats me because I am his wife’.” Most of the women she was dealing with had been conditioned to think this way and it was very difficult for them to break out of it. Interview from Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

In the past they kept their anger and sadness to themselves, but today if Tongan women are not happy, and if they are hurt, they will speak out because they have the right to do so, says international women’s leader, Princess Nanasipau‘u Tuku‘aho of Tonga. Interview by Pesi Fonua. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.