A G E N C Y : V O I C E A N D I N F L U E N C E W I T H I N T H E H O M E A N D I N S O C I E T Y
Gender-based violence Countries in the East Asia and Pacific region have among the highest numbers of trafficked people in the world, and the Pacific has the highest incidence of violence against women in the world. Gender-based violence is internationally recognized as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (UN 1993). Violence against women can take the form of physical, sexual, and psychological harm and can take place within the private or the public sphere, or can be in the form of the human trafficking of women and girls, among others. Violence against women is historically underresearched and underreported because of a variety of factors, including the sensitivity of the topic and concerns for the safety of respondents. Despite the lack of easily comparable international statistics over time, the increasing availability of studies shows that
FIGURE 4.11 Women’s representation in parliament has grown in much of East Asia but has experienced little change in the Pacific Islands percentage of seats held by women
30
Lao PDR
Singapore Cambodia 20
10
Philippines China
Indonesia Korea, Rep.
Thailand
Tuvalu, Tonga, Palau Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Vanuatu
0 0
Australia Vietnam
Japan
Korea, Dem. Rep. Malaysia
Samoa
Kiribati Marshall Islands Papua New Guinea Solomon Is. 5
Mongolia
10
2000
15
share of parliamentary seats held by women, %
20
25 45 degree line
Source: PARLINE database, 2012 data.
FIGURE 4.12 Women’s representation in parliament is low, especially in the Pacific 45
percentage of seats held by women in the lower or single house, 2011
40 35 30 percent
25 20 15 10 5
M icr on
es ia
,F
ed
.S Na ts. So Pa lo u pu mo P ru a N n ala ew Isla u Gu nds M ar V ine sh an a al ua l Is tu M lan ya ds nm To ar M ng on a go Sa lia m Tu oa Ki valu rib Ko M re al a a, ay De s m Ko Ja ia . P re pa eo a, n pl Re e' p s . Th Rep ai . In lan d d Ca one m sia bo di Sin Ch a in g Ph ap a ilip ore p Vi ine et s na No TimLao m rd o PD ic r-L R co es un t e tri e w s or ld
0
Source: PARLINE database, 2012 data.
155
violence against women is a major concern for many countries in the region, and particularly in the Pacific.
2010 (%)