Individual human rights are provided for in the Constitution and respected in practice. The Constitution distinguishes between those rights that are guaranteed all residents and those that apply only to the 5,000 who hold Monegasque nationality. The latter include free education, financial assistance in case of unemployment or illness, and the right to vote and hold elective office. The 1993 National Council elections brought a second political party into the Council for the first time. Women traditionally have played a less active role than men in public life, but this is changing.
Women currently hold both elective and appointive offices.
The first female police officers were hired in 1993. Such incidents are unkown in Monaco. There were no instances of disappearance or abduction. Such practices are barred by the Constitution. These prohibitions are respected in fact.