 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (October 2013) |
 | |
| General Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 110 (2010) |
| Women in parliament | 3.6% (2013) |
| Women over 25 with secondary education | 87.5% (2012) |
| Women in labour force | 53.5% (2012) |
| Gender Inequality Index[1] | |
| Value | 0.631 (2021) |
| Rank | 160th out of 191 |
| Part of a series on |
| Women in society |
|---|
.svg) |
As female residents of Tonga, women in Tonga had been described in 2000 by the Los Angeles Times as members of 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". Based on the "superficial dealings" of LA Times Travel Writer, Susan Spano with the women of Tonga in 2000, she found that Tongan women were a "little standoffish", while Patricia Ledyard, former headmistress of a missionary school for girls in Tonga, confirmed that such "aloofness" of Tongan women were due to the nation's "rigid class system" and the country's "efforts to retain its cultural identity". There were presence of Tongan women who are professionals engaged in jobs as travel agents, as vendors selling an "exotic cornucopia of root vegetables and tropical fruit(s)", and as basket weavers.[2]
- ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ Spano, Susan. "In Tonga, Women Cloak Their Power Under Mother Hubbard Dresses". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 October 2013.