UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 134) Tonga is currently drafting its reservations to the CEDAW, and intends to present these draft reservations for public comment before depositing them together with the instrument of accession.

UN Compilation:
Para 2) UNHCR underlined that Tonga had acceded to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), but was not party to any other international human rights treaty.

Para 3) OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific (RO Pacific) highlighted that Tonga was one of the few countries in the Pacific that had not yet ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

National Report:
Para 52) Tonga announced that it is ready to ratify CEDAW at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN General Assembly in New York on 12 March 2015.
Para 112) On 6 March 2015, His Majesty’s Cabinet approved for the Tonga to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Para 113) On 9 March 2015, Tonga made an international commitment during the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Para 114) Tonga is currently working on revising the reservations to CEDAW to be consistent with issues raised by the public before it can proceed to the ratification process.
Para 67) Tonga continues to be committed to eliminating violence against women.
Para 68) The Family Protection Act 2013 was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 4 September 2013. It was then proclaimed into force on 1 July 2014. The Act is to provide for greater protection from domestic violence, to introduce protection orders, clarify duties of the police and promote the health, safety and well-being of victims of domestic violence and related matters.
Para 69) The Family Protection Act 2013 is the first Act in Tonga to state that domestic violence is an offence. It defines domestic violence to include a person who threatens, intimidates or assaults a health practitioner or social service provider who is acting in pursuance of a duty of care.
Para 70) The Women Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs went through extensive consultations (including public and media consultations, television and radio programs) to ensure the public understands the concepts of the new Family Protection Act 2013.
Para 71) The main mandate of the Women’s Division is to monitor and ensure the effective implementation of the Family Protection Act 2013.
Para 72) The Attorney General’s Office has specific legal counsels who deal with domestic violence cases. The Office continues to work closely with the Domestic Violence Unit of the Tonga Police and meet regularly to ensure that domestic violence cases are prosecuted.

UN Compilation:
Para 3) The United Nations country team stated that, in March 2015, the Cabinet had approved the process of ratification of the CEDAW, with a number of reservations pertaining to the accession to the throne, nobility, abortion and same-sex marriage. Progress had stalled due to public protest, particularly by women religious leaders associated with the church. In February 2017, the then Prime Minister called for public consultations on ratification with the participation of local women’s groups, given that the country was divided over the subject.
Para 18) The United Nations country team noted that sexual and gender-based violence, including intimate-partner violence, sexual assault and rape, and violence against transgender persons, was widespread.
Para 19) The United Nations country team noted that Tonga had passed the Family Protection Act (2013), which included provisions that enhanced protection against domestic violence in several ways: by preventing violence through increased awareness; by granting greater power to police officers to provide protection to victims through the issuance of protection orders; by providing health and mental health support and counselling to victims; by imposing heavy penalties on offenders; and by strengthening the institutional response through the creation of the Family Protection Advisory Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 7) JS1 reported that in 2015, the Government of Tonga had stated at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York that it was ready to commence the process of ratifying CEDAW. However, a decision by the King in Privy Council put on hold the process, claiming that the decision of the Government to ratify CEDAW contradicted Clause 39 of the Constitution, which stipulated that only the King could make treaties.
Para 33) JS1 welcomed the enactment of the Family Protection Act (2013), which aimed to provide greater protection for victims of domestic violence. The Act reportedly provided for increased power for the police to issue protection orders on the spot for a maximum of seven days; a legal requirement to inform the victims of their rights and the legal proceedings that would ensue; and the formation of a committee of key community stakeholders to discuss how best to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Act.

National Report:
Para 22 (c) Tonga has an Employment Relations Bill 2013 which is currently under consultation. This Bill ensures the fundamental rights and principles at work which includes … equal remuneration for work of equal value, …Tonga is hopeful, that the consultations on this Bill will be complete and the Bill will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly for further debate.
Para 46) Tonga has continued to make commitments on the international, regional and national level to improve women’s political participation.
Para 47) Tonga is committed to Sustainable Development Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Para 48) 16 of 106 candidates for the 2014 General Elections were women, despite the high number of women, none were successful in the elections.
Para 49) However, after a Supreme Court ruling in January 2016 one of the members of Parliament was forced to vacate his seat. This led to a by-election in July 2016 that resulted in a female candidate being elected into Parliament.
Para 50) The November 2017 Elections has a total of 86 candidates, where 15 of those candidates are women.
Para 51) Tonga continues to have a Women’s Division under the Ministry of Internal Affairs to look after women affairs and the implementation of the Family Protection Act 2013.
Para 52) Tonga announced that it is ready to ratify CEDAW at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN General Assembly in New York on 12 March 2015.
Para 53) In September 2015, the third and Final Report for Tonga and the Millennium Development Goals was submitted to the United Nations the report showed progress and achievements to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education.
Para 54) The Tongan Government introduced the Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2015-2025 in 2015 and one of the seven national outcomes is for a more inclusive sustainable and empowering human development with gender equality. This is supported by the following Organisational Outcomes under the Social Pillar:
(a) improve gender equality by implementing the government’s gender development policy and ensuring a more balanced and effective engagement by both men and women in decision making and social, economic and political institutions (OO2.1e);
(b) while recognizing the high status of women in Tongan culture, ensure that improved gender balance is built into all policies, plans, laws and initiatives (OO 2.3f);
(c) develop an education system that better addresses the needs of both girls and boys and ensures a better gender balance at all stages of schooling (OO 2.4d);
(d) build strong gender awareness, sensitivity to differences in needs in abilities, and other criteria into all programs.(OO 2.7f);
(e) improve understanding of the many ways in which people resident in Tonga and overseas (in particular the Diaspora) interact in beneficial ways, and support the development of institutional arrangements and international agreements which facilitate this interaction - taking account of gender and other differences(OO 2.8a).
Para 55) Tonga was represented on the Promoting Evidence Based Policy Making for Gender Equality: Workshop on Gender training needs and design and Tonga Gender profile information and consultation meeting held in July 2017.
Para 56) This was an Asian Development Bank (ADB) project aimed to develop a national capacity for gender mainstreaming in health and discussions on the role of statistics and gender indicators in decision making and identify priorities for training and developing capacity in this area.
Para 57) Women are being increasingly represented in managerial and higher administrative positions in both government and private sectors. Since 2013, 13 women have held or currently holding Chief Executive Officer positions in Government.
Para 58) Tongan women also hold diplomatic positions overseas. To date the Ambassador of Tonga to Australia, Ambassador of Tonga to Japan, Tonga Consul General in San Francisco and Honorary Consulate of France, Netherlands and Sweden are women.
Para 59) The Public Enterprise Boards have women as Directors, Deputies or members including Tonga Communications Corporation, Tonga Broadcasting Corporation, Tonga Water Board, Tonga Post & Fast Print Ltd, Tonga Airports Limited, Tonga Market Ltd and Ports Authority.
Para 60) Women also hold prominent roles in the private sector as successful medium to small business owners and managers of retail stores; café and restaurants; hotel, resort and tourist facilities, catering services, handicraft and local produce market stalls, pre-school and day-care child services and more.
Para 61) Tongan women also hold leadership roles in the regional and international organizations. for instance a Tongan woman was appointed to the position of United Nations High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) in May 2017. Thus becoming the first Tongan to hold such a senior position in the United Nations.
Para 62) In 2014, the Legislative Assembly held the first ever Practice Parliament for Women in Tonga. This event was to increase the potential of women to become effective political leaders. It was to encourage and empower women to achieve their potential as leaders. This was supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Para 63) Tonga launched its Tonga Revised National Policy on Gender and Development in May 2014.
Para 64) This Gender Policy was a result of collective partnership between Government, the Private Sector, Civil Society, the Community, and Development Partners.
Para 65) The Tonga Revised National Policy on Gender and Development identified six Gender Equity Issues in Tonga namely: • Family and Social Issues; • Unequal access to employment and productive assets; • Unequal Political Representation and Participation in Decision-Making; • Different vulnerability, roles and capacity to respond to disasters; • Environmental and climate change not properly acknowledged, by national strategies; • Vulnerable women; and • The Weak enabling environment for gender mainstreaming.
Para 66) In June 2016, a one day National Women’s Forum was held to discuss the progress on the National Policy on Gender and Development 2014-2018. Key stakeholders from the Women’s Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Tonga police, Ministry of Finance and other government departments with representatives from the Tonga National Centre for Women and Children, Women and Children Crisis Centre, Girl Guides, Civil Society and NGOs attended. The Minister of Internal Affairs speech stated that the statistics revealed gaps between men and women in regards to both genders in various aspects. In the 2011 census, there were 51,979 men and 51, 273 women recorded in Tonga. Paid workers were 13,977 men and 9,721 women, while unemployment rate was at 33% for men and 33.3% for women. In addition a report from Tonga Police showed from 2000-09, 2,753 women had been physically abused.
Para 79) Tonga launched an International Women’s Day Media Workshop which was held on 12 April 2013.
Para 84) The third and Final Report for Tonga on the Millennium Development Goals was submitted to the UN. This report revealed the progress and achievements of Target 3A.

UN Compilation:
Para 11) The United Nations country team reported that … in 2014, the Government introduced the revised national policy on gender and development, which focused on promoting equal access, participation and distribution of the benefits of the development process for all women, men and children. However, such measures had yet to be fully implemented.
Para 30) The United Nations country team noted that gender discrimination in terms of wages and work conditions remained an issue. Men outnumbered women in paid employment outside the agricultural sector and they were paid 20 to 50 per cent more than women. Higher education for young women had failed to lead to better employment outcomes owing to gender barriers in labour markets, gender stereotypes about suitable occupations for women and traditional expectations regarding women’s unpaid domestic activity and taking care of the family. In the private sector, women were almost invisible on company boards. In the public sector, women usually occupied lower-level positions. The participation of women in the workforce was highest in the informal sector. Unemployment among women was typically higher in rural and remote outer islands.
Para 36) … While the gender parity index in 2012 of enrolment at the pre-primary and primary level stood at 0.99, challenges remained, particularly for remote communities and persons with disabilities. These included gendered learning pathways that limited opportunities for women and girls to engage in education suiting their interests and capabilities.
Para 42) The UN country team stressed that owning land was very difficult for women in Tonga. The Land Act prevented them from inheriting land, which greatly limited their capacity to access financial services. It stressed that, although some matriarchal land tenure systems existed, real control and management of the land lay with brothers and other men of the clan. Tongan women seldom participated in decision-making related to the development of land and were seldom able to benefit from such developments.
Para 43) The United Nations country team emphasized that the representation of women in the Legislative Assembly remained extremely low, with currently only one woman representative.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 11) JS1 stated that the Constitution of Tonga prohibited discrimination based on class, religion, race, but it did not recognize discrimination based on gender. It added that the National Policy on Gender and Development had been formulated in 2001 and was revised in 2014, but it faced the common challenge of budget constraints that limited the capacity of implementation.
Para 27) JS1 stated that there was no official system for supporting female workers, with the exception of maternity leave for public servants as per the Public Service Act. In the private sector, there was no legislation that ensured the welfare of female workers, including maternity leave. JS1 added that there was no minimal wage law. Over the last 30 years, the number of women in formal employment had increased almost fourfold. However, there had been little progress in the type of occupations in which women were engaged. Most women had been and were still employed in unskilled menial work or subordinate positions and therefore were paid at the lower end of the scale.
Para 32) JS1 mentioned the report of the Royal Land Commission released in 2012, which recommended increasing women’s rights to land, and more specifically for women to be allowed to register a town allotment. However, this recommendation did not allow women to register bush allotments, allegedly because only men attended to the bush for agricultural purposes. Despite attempts to recommend amendments to afford women more access and rights to land, this was an area where women continued to be economically deprived and disempowered.
Para 35) The low participation of women across the decision-making spectrum was of concern to JS1. Whilst there had been an increase in female appointed chief executive officers to government ministries, the appointment of women to the highest decision-making positions remained, in most places, stagnant. JS1 stated that, for example, there had been no women appointed judges since the last review, no female cabinet members and only one female in the Parliament following a bye-election in June 2016. In recognition of the Sustainable Development Goal 5.5, Parliament had approved a motion for two reserved seats for women. However, JS1 expressed concern that such a number (representing seven percent of the total number of parliamentarians) was low compared to UN standards and best practices … …JS1 noted that in June 2017, the King had invested a female as a Law Lord, which was deemed to have been a big step forward for women.
Para 36) According to JS1, the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act 2010 under which the Kingdom had been divided into 17 electoral constituencies – with one seat allocated per constituency – did not favour women candidates as it made it more difficult for women to compete with male candidates. It was even more difficult when there was a lack of support from political parties for women candidates.

National Report:
Para 52) Tonga announced that it is ready to ratify CEDAW at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN General Assembly in New York on 12 March 2015.
Para 112) On 6 March 2015, His Majesty’s Cabinet approved for the Tonga to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Para 113) On 9 March 2015, Tonga made an international commitment during the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Para 114) Tonga is currently working on revising the reservations to CEDAW to be consistent with issues raised by the public before it can proceed to the ratification process.

UN Compilation:
Para 3) The United Nations country team stated that, in March 2015, the Cabinet had approved the process of ratification of the CEDAW, with a number of reservations pertaining to the accession to the throne, nobility, abortion and same-sex marriage. Progress had stalled due to public protest, particularly by women religious leaders associated with the church. In February 2017, the then Prime Minister called for public consultations on ratification with the participation of local women’s groups, given that the country was divided over the subject.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 3) JS1 highlighted that Tonga had not ratified the following instruments: the CEDAW and its OP, …
Para 7) JS1 reported that in 2015, the Government of Tonga had stated at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York that it was ready to commence the process of ratifying CEDAW. However, a decision by the King in Privy Council put on hold the process, claiming that the decision of the Government to ratify CEDAW contradicted Clause 39 of the Constitution, which stipulated that only the King could make treaties.