Culture and Inequality

The theme of culture and inequality in reference to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women is important, when discussing the culture and inequality of women in a country, which recently petitioned government to reject the treaty on CEDAW. Culture in Tonga and their ways of life, is that women are treated higher than men, and they are regarded with highest honor and dignity. Their manners, values, and principles had been passed down from generation to generation. However, on the other hand there is inequality when it comes to wages parity, women representation, and decisions in the executive government bodies.

This is very contradicting when Tonga’s culture uplifts women in accordance with CEDAW principles, however the current practices bolster inequality. This is the reason why this theme was selected because the culture concurs with CEDAW ideologies, nonetheless there is inequality when it comes to power and decision making. There is evidence of abuse of women, women are not entitle to land, and there is misleading CEDAW information that women of Tonga are not aware of. The information from researching this theme would substantially leads to facts finding in order to advocate CEDAW in Tonga.