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Women have been a vital part of history and culture in the geographic area known as
Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
today. Women in Oceania have diverse cultural identities which relate to the geography of the continent and the social structures of the people living there. Their evolution, culture and history coincide with the
history of Oceania The History of Oceania includes the history of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and other Pacific island nations. Prehistory The prehistory of Oceania is divided into the prehistory of each of its major areas: Poly ...
itself.


History


Early women in Oceania

Women in New Zealand are the women who live in or are from the multi-cultural
society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. The first female settlers in New Zealand were not from
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
. They were from the
Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several c ...
.


Colonization

The person credited to be the first white-skinned European woman to settle in New Zealand was Charlotte Badger (she later had a daughter known as Catherine).The first woman settler? - go-betweens
/ref> The first known Australian settlers arrived on the
Cocos islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...
in 1826.Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Vol. 42, No.4, Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc., April 1986, page 21 (56 pages),


Traditional roles among women in Oceania

In East Timor, due to traditional roles, women are unable to inherit or own property
East Timor and face the cultural notion that women normally belong at the home.Crook, Matt
Women Learn the Political Ropes
Rights-East Timor The role of Kiribati women is described in the publication ''Kiribati, A Situation Analysis of Children, Women and Youth'' (2005) as "largely defined by her age and marital status". Prestige is inherent to the married Kiribati woman, but she is considerably under the authority of her husband. Historically, there was a strong "gendered division of labor" between women and men of
Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...
. Tongan society who traditionally have a "high position in Tongan society" due to the country's partly matriarchal foundation but "can't own land", "subservient" to husbands in terms of "domestic affairs" and "by custom and law, must dress modestly, usually in Mother Hubbard-style dresses hemmed well below the knee". Women participate in the traditional
music of Tuvalu The traditional music of Tuvalu consists of dances, including '' fatele'', '' fakanau'' and '' fakaseasea''. The influence of the Samoan missionaries sent to Tuvalu by the London Missionary Society from the 1860s resulted in the suppression of so ...
which consists of a number of dances, including the ''
fatele The fatele is a traditional dance song of Tuvalu. Dancing songs are the most common type of traditional Tuvaluan song, with other tradition dance styles including '' fakanau'' and '' fakaseasea''. The ''fatele'', in its modern form, is perfor ...
'' and the ''
fakanau A fakanau (meaning "spells") is a traditional Tuvaluan male dance, accompanied by singing and rhythmic clapping. ''Fakanau'' singing and dancing are typical of Niutao and Nukufetau islands of Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, a group of ...
''.


Promoting equality for women in Oceania

One of the organizations that promote
empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
and foster
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
for the women of East Timor is the
United Nations Development Fund for Women The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, french: Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme, ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the Internationa ...
(UNIFEM). At present, the women of Indonesia are also venturing actively into the realm of national development, and working as active members of
organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...
s that focus and act on
women's issues Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
and concerns. The women of New Zealand have the same level of equality with men, and are conferred the same level of respect as well.New Zealand Customs & Culture
/ref> In relation to the labor force, based on data in 2006, Vanuatuan female workers comprised 49.6% of the workforce of Vanuatu. At present, women in
Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
- together with Guamanian men - participate in jobs that belong to the wage economy category; but there are also women - among men - who work in the agricultural sector. In March 2011, International Women's Day was celebrated on Christmas Island for the honor of its female residents. The event was held in order to convey the theme of "what it means to be a woman living on Christmas Island".Christmas Island Celebrations - 100 women of Christmas Island for 100 years of International Women's Day
unifem.org Niuean women have "some rights" in relation to land tenure and inheritance of real property, but such rights are not "as strong" as those that belong to the men of Niue.


Education

Modern-day Fijian women have attained better access to education in recent years. Tuvaluan women have access to secondary education at
Motufoua Secondary School Motufoua Secondary School is a boarding school for children on Vaitupu atoll, Tuvalu. it is the largest high school in Tuvalu. As Tuvalu consists of nine islands, the students reside on Vaitupu during the school year and return to their home is ...
on
Vaitupu Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people (2017 Census) living on with the main village being Asau. Geography The island, which covers approxima ...
and
Fetuvalu Secondary School Fetuvalu Secondary School is a day school in the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu that is operated by the Church of Tuvalu and is located on Funafuti atoll. The school re-opened in 2003 having been closed for 5 years; the school offered Form 3 and a ...
, a day school operated by the
Church of Tuvalu The Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu ( Tuvaluan: ''Te Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu'', EKT), commonly the Church of Tuvalu, is a Christian Church which is the state church of Tuvalu, although this status merely entitles it to "the privilege ...
, on Funafuti.


Women's health in Oceania

In the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
female life expectancy at birth was at 66.7 years as compared to male life expectancy at birth at 64.9 in 2007.Human Development Report 2009 – Solomon Islands
Hdrstats.undp.org. Retrieved 24 September 2010. 1990–1995 fertility rate was at 5.5 births per woman.


Sexual harassment and violence

Rape cases and sexual slavery were allegedly committed by East Timorese pro-integration militias during the September 1999 crisis in
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...
.


See also


Sovereign states in Oceania

*
Women in Australia Women in Australia refers to women's demographic and cultural presence in Australia. Australian women have contributed greatly to the country's development, in many areas. Historically, a masculine bias has dominated Australian culture. Since 1 ...
*
Women and government in Australia Government in Australia is elected by universal suffrage and Australian women participate in all levels of the government of the nation. In 1902, the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia became the first nation on earth to enact equal suffr ...
* Women in East Timor *
Women in Fiji Women in Fiji live in or are from the Republic of Fiji. On March 8, 2007, ''The Fiji Times ONLINE'' described Fijian women as playing an important role in the fields of economic and social development in Fijian society. The women of the Republic ...
*
Women in Indonesia The roles of women in Indonesia today are being affected by many factors, including increased modernization, globalization, improved education and advances in technology. Many Indonesian women choose to reside in cities instead of staying in t ...
*
Women in Kiribati Women in Kiribati are women who live in or are from the atoll nation of Kiribati. The role of Kiribati women is described in the publication ''Kiribati, A Situation Analysis of Children, Women and Youth'' (2005) as "largely defined by her age an ...
* Women in the Marshall Islands * Women in the Federated States of Micronesia * Women in Nauru *
Women in New Zealand Women in New Zealand are women who live in or are from New Zealand. Notably New Zealand was the first self-governing country in the world where women were entitled to vote. In recent times New Zealand has had many women in top leadership and go ...
*
Women's suffrage in New Zealand Women's suffrage in New Zealand was an important political issue in the late nineteenth century. In early colonial New Zealand, as in European societies, women were excluded from any involvement in politics. Public opinion began to change i ...
* Women in Palau * Women in Papua New Guinea * Women in Samoa * Women in the Solomon Islands * Women in Tonga *
Women in Tuvalu Women in Tuvalu continue to maintain a traditional Polynesian culture within a predominantly Christian society. Tuvaluan cultural identity is sustained through an individual's connection to their home island. In the traditional community system ...
* Women in Vanuatu


Dependent territories (Australia)

* Women in Christmas Island * Women in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands * Women in Norfolk Island


Dependent territories (Chile)

* Women in Easter Island


Dependent territories (France)

*
Women in French Polynesia A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...
* Women in New Caledonia *
Women in Wallis and Futuna A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...


Dependent territories (New Zealand)

* Women in the Cook Islands * Women in Niue * Women in Tokelau


Dependent territories (UK)

* Women in the Pitcairn Islands


Dependent territories (USA)

* Women in American Samoa * Women in Guam *
Women in Hawaii Women in Hawai'i reside in the Hawaiian Island and are citizens of the United States. Immigrants and Native Hawaiians make up the population of women in Hawai'i. Native Hawaiian women descended from Polynesians. Immigrants women came from many count ...
* Women in the Northern Mariana Islands


Related topics

*
Indigenous peoples of Oceania The indigenous peoples of Oceania are Aboriginal Australians, Papuans, and Austronesians ( Melanesians (including Torres Strait Islanders), Micronesians, and Polynesians). These indigenous peoples have a historical continuity with pre-colonial ...


References


Citations


Sources

*


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Women In Oceania