Women Matai and Leadership Report 2015
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Women: Matai and Leadership Survey Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development 2015 1 Table of Contents Message from the Minister……………………………………………………………………………………………….5 Acronyms …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6 Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... 7 Chapter One: Introduction and Background .................................................................... 13 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 13 1.2 Background. ................................................................................................................... 15 Geography and Districts. .................................................................................................. 15 The Samoan Population. ................................................................................................... 17 The economy. .................................................................................................................... 18 Women in the workforce. ................................................................................................. 19 1.3 The Status of Women in Samoa. .................................................................................... 23 Gender Roles and Responsibilities. ................................................................................... 23 The Sacred Space/Relationship (Va Tapuia). .................................................................... 23 Women’s social groups. .................................................................................................... 23 Women and Social Change. .............................................................................................. 24 1.4 Leadership in Samoa: Social and Political Structures ..................................................... 26 The Matai System (Fa'amatai). ........................................................................................ 26 The Samoan political system. ........................................................................................... 27 1.5 Women in Leadership. .................................................................................................... 28 Women as Matai. ............................................................................................................. 28 Women’s Political Participation. ...................................................................................... 33 Constitutional Amendment: A Gender-Quota Strategy. ................................................... 34 Chapter Two: Methodology ............................................................................................ 36 2.1 Goal and Objectives. ....................................................................................................... 37 2.2 Design. ............................................................................................................................ 38 2.3 Data Collection/Entry. .................................................................................................... 39 Phase 1. ............................................................................................................................. 39 Phase 2. ............................................................................................................................. 40 Phase 3. ............................................................................................................................. 41 2.4 Participants .................................................................................................................... 41 2 2.5 Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter Three: A National Gender Based Profile of Matai ............................................... 44 3.1 Disaggregation by Gender.............................................................................................. 44 3.2 Disaggregation by Village .............................................................................................. 50 3.3 Disaggregation by Hierarchy .......................................................................................... 61 3.4 Participation at village council ....................................................................................... 66 3.5 Living and Serving in the village ..................................................................................... 70 Chapter Four: Women’s decision making attitudes and experiences in the village context 73 4.1 Womens’ Decision Making in the Village Context. ........................................................ 74 4.1.1 Status in the Household. .......................................................................................... 74 4.1.2 Womens’ Decision Making Responsibilities............................................................. 75 4.2 The Challenges and Barriers Women Face. .................................................................... 77 4.3 Becoming a Matai. ......................................................................................................... 80 4.3.1 Pursuing a Matai Title. ............................................................................................ 80 4.3.2 Forgoing a matai title. ............................................................................................. 85 4.4 Women as Matai. ........................................................................................................... 89 4.4.1 Womens’ Authority and Influence in the Village ..................................................... 89 4.4.2 Womens’ Capacity to Become Matai ...................................................................... 91 4.4.3 Financial Stability ..................................................................................................... 93 Chapter Five: Why some villages ban women from becoming Matai and the decision making barriers women face. ......................................................................................... 96 5.1 Overview of women’s participation in decision making and leadership ........................ 97 5.2 An in-depth analysis of why some villages don’t allow women to become Matai: ....... 99 5.2.1 Theme 1. A village taboo or family rule prohibits women from becoming Matai 102 The hegemony of men and the status of women in Samoa ........................................... 104 5.2.2 Theme 2. Gender roles and responsibilities ........................................................... 104 5.2.3 Theme 3: The sacred space/relationship between men and women .................... 105 5.2.4 Theme 4: A male relative is prioritised for the role of Matai ................................ 106 5.2.5 Theme 5: The untitled women being interviewed is married into the family (in-law) ........................................................................................................................................ 107 5.2.6 Theme 6: Women lack traditional knowledge or resources .................................. 107 3 5.3 An in-depth analysis of why some villages do not allow women to participate at the village council. .................................................................................................................... 108 5.3.1 Theme 1: The language used at village council is inappropriate for women ........ 109 5.3.2 Theme 2: The sacred space/relationship between women and men .................. 1100 5.3.3 Theme 3: Gender roles and responsibilities ....................................................... 11111 5.3.4 Theme 4: A village taboo prohibits women from participating at the village council. ...................................................................................................................................... 1122 5.3.5 Theme 5: The women matai live elsewhere and/or choose not to participate in the village council. .............................................................................................................. 1133 5.3.6 The womens’ perspective. ................................................................................... 1133 5.4 Statistical Analysis of Phase 2 Responses. ................................................................. 1144 Chapter Six: Women’s attitudes towards political leadership ...................................... 1166 6.1 Womens’ participation in politics. .............................................................................. 1166 6.1.1 Desire to participate .............................................................................................. 117 6.1.2 Reluctance to participate..................................................................................... 1200 6.2 Addressing Women’s Issues. ...................................................................................... 1233 6.3 General attitudes towards ‘Women in Politics’. ......................................................... 1244 6.3.1 Support towards women in politics. .................................................................... 1266 6.3.2 Resistance towards women in politics. ................................................................ 1288 Chapter Seven: The perspectives of professional and prominent matai women. .......... 1300 7.1 Pathways to pursuing a leadership and/or professional