Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a matrilineal society. In addition to daily duties such as home and family maintenance, women have the right to own and inherit land. This places the Marshallese women at the center of the society. Despite this matrilineal establishment, women are less educated, more unemployed, and are compensated less for work than are men in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Teenage pregnancy in the Republic of the Marshall Islands is the highest among the other Pacific Islands and, according to the nongovernmental organization Women United Together in the Marshall Islands (WUTMI), 80 percent of Marshallese women have reported domestic abuse. Programs and services for such abuse and teenage pregnancy are limited in the country. WUTMI is a chartered, nonprofit organization designed to advocate for the Marshallese women. WUTMI's campaigns include educating parents on how to raise healthy and strong children (Parents as Teachers Project); increasing awareness of domestic violence and advancing legislation to combat abuse (Protection of Women-Enhancing Human Rights Project); and researching the reaction of Marshallese citizens toward women leaders in government (Gender Equality in Leadership Project).

In 2006, the Republic of the Marshall Islands was the first of the Pacific Islands to propose a Gender Budget Initiative. The nation's budget was targeted to provide gender equality through implementing expenditure of money more appropriately and equally for both genders.

The measure was intended to signify the priorities of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which was proposed as host of the pilot Gender Budget Initiative for the other Pacific Islands, by virtue of its matrilineal society and its grassroots women's organizations, such as WUTMI. While the bill failed to pass, it is still thought to have brought awareness to gender inequality and government accountability in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

On March 1, 1954, the United States detonated the atomic bomb Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll on the Marshall Islands as a nuclear test. The fallout from Castle Bravo was intended to drop into the ocean; however, wind currents relocated the fallout to two inhabited atolls in the Marshall Islands: Rongelap and Utirik. Women there reported suffering irregular and excessive menstrual cycles, back pain, and pelvic deformities from the fallout. Many women also delivered what are known as “jelly babies” (malformed fetuses); however their claims that these fetuses were radiation related was dismissed. Marshallese women have also reported suffering goiter tumors, resultant of radioactive exposure.