Women in the Marshall Islands are women who live in or are from the
Republic of the Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...
, an
island country
An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...
that is politically a
presidential republic in
free association with the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Alternative appellations for these women are Marshallese women, Marshall Islander women, Marshalls women, and women in Rālik-Ratak (literally women "facing toward the windward"
.e. ''facing sunrise''and "facing toward the leeward"
.e. ''facing sunset''.
Arts and crafts
Marshallese women are known to create "finely-woven ''
pandanus''" and art made from coconut fiber.
[
]
Social status
The society of the Marshall Islands primarily has a social structure that is matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...
. This means that women are own "a great deal of power" because they predominate in making decisions "behind-the-scenes" even though men are seen as the "public performers".[
In the past, Marshall islander women who belong to the upper class are commonly distinguished by wearing "intricate tattoos", and were spoken to using "restricted speech genres" and "speaking styles". At present, modern-day women in the Marshall Islands may wear "American-style dress modified it to local norms" where the emerging elite may wear "costly dress and personal adornment".][
]
Social welfare
There are social welfare programs for women, particularly in urban areas, that had been supported by the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, by religious groups and by other nations belonging to the Pacific Rim region since the 1960s.[ The umbrella organisation for women's rights groups is Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI), whose Executive Director was Kathryn Relang. Relang worked on several projects, including: youth empowerment in the workplace; providing support services for survivors of domestic violence; raising awareness about legal rights in domestic violence cases; the importance of women's roles in conservation.]gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification.
Types of gender-related violence include:
* Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...
, which is widespread in the Marshall Islands.
See also
* Marshallese culture
* Religion in the Marshall Islands
Religion in the Marshall Islands has been primarily Christian ever since the religion was introduced by Western missionaries around 1857. The government generally supports the free practice of religion, although the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim comm ...
* Economy of the Marshall Islands
The government of the Marshall Islands is the largest employer, employing 30.6% of the work force, down by 3.4% since 1988. GDP is derived mainly from payments made by the United States under the terms of the amended Compact of Free Association. ...
* Japanese settlement in the Marshall Islands
* Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese: , , meaning "coconut place"), sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946 is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. After the Seco ...
References
External links
Women United Together Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands Project (UN Women)
by Dirk H.R. Spennemann
{{Marshall Islands topics
Culture of the Marshall Islands
Micronesian people