Results for Women's Rights

An American photojournalist Paola Gianturco (75) will feature stories of local girls under the Talitha Project in her sixth photographic book ‘Wonder Girls’, to celebrate girl activists from around the world who are making the world a better place.

A crowd of people from various churches in Tonga led by some church leaders, today marched to the Palace Office in Nuku'alofa to present four petitions to King Tupou VI, in opposition to Tonga's intention to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

There was confusion in the Tongan Parliament today when government was asked to confirm if the United Nations had accepted Tonga’s ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). From the House by Pesi Fonua

Guaranteeing equal rights for women in Tonga by endorsing CEDAW was not a commitment for four of the candidates running for election, who did not understand the Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Economist Mr. Daniel K. Fale's rationalization (Tonga's land law . . . 05 Nov 2009) is a typical Tongan male excuse in denying women their "God-given rights" to own land in Tonga.-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.