The Federated States of Micronesia comprises the island Nauru and four prominent island states: the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Caroline Islands and the Mariana islands.
Population size:
113,815 [1]
2021 female population: 49.7%
Education:
According to a report written by the UNDP in 2010, the gap between male and female enrolment in schools began to close after the Millennium Declaration.
2009: Ratio between genders was 0.96% compared to 0.92 in 1994. Despite this improvement, girls still scored lower than their male peers, but not by much (boys scored an average of 61% and girls 65% during tests.
2015: 48% of girls in primary school education.
2015: 49% of girls in secondary school education.
Employment:
2012: Approximately 68% of women and girls over the age of 15 are categorised as economically active and women comprise 14% of the non- agricultural sector.
2014: 18% of females in senior and middle management.
Parliament:
2021: 7% of seats held by women in national parliaments
February 2022: First female senator elected. Since 2011, 8 women had attempted to be elected to Congress but had little success.
Number of people experiencing domestic abuse each year:
Women who have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime:33 %
Women Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in the last 12 months against women: 24 % [2]
2018: 21.1% of women aged 15-49 years reported that they had been subject to physical and/ or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months.
No research on male victims or other gender identities.
Physical and/or sexual violence by partners - Almost one in three ever-partnered women in the FSM (32.8%) have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a partner at least once in their life. - Nearly one in four ever-partnered women (24.1%) experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a partner in the 12 months preceding the interview. This figure was the highest among women aged 15-24 (34.7%). - Nearly 29% of ever-partnered women have experienced physical violence by a partner in their lifetime. The most common acts of physical violence were being slapped or having something thrown at them. - 6.3% of ever-pregnant women experienced physical partner violence in pregnancy and in almost half of the cases women were punched in the abdomen. - Slightly over 18% of ever-partnered women have experienced sexual violence by a partner in their lifetime and the most common act of sexual violence was being forced to have sexual intercourse.
Impact of partner violence on women’s health - Two in five women who ever experienced partner violence (41%) were injured at least once in their lifetime due to the violence.[3]
Cost of domestic abuse to the economy each year:
No research.
Estimated % change due to COVID-19:
No research
Current law and policy:
No legal protection against domestic violence exists outside of the constitution protection against sex discrimination. No legal protection against domestic violence exists outside of the constitution protection against sex discrimination. This includes no national legislation against sexual assault and rape of women over 13.
It has been difficult to determine precisely the prevalence of domestic violence in since (1) most abuse goes unreported; (2) there is no organisation that keeps records on the number of reports or calls; and (3) data cannot be found in hospital or clinic records. Stories told by health care professionals in Yap suggest anecdotally there are high rates of domestic violence yet there have been no surveys to quantify the prevalence and characteristics of domestic violence in Yap, or anywhere else in the FSM. An Outer Island Health Assessment concluded: “Domestic violence is not often publicly discussed among the Micronesian community.” This study shows that Yap at 41% has a higher percentage than any of these. The problem may well be as severe throughout the FSM, where at least two deaths have been reported as the result of severe wife beating, but a culture of silence still surrounds the issue throughout Micronesia. (Yap, Micronesia) [4]
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