The number of cases of physical and sexual assaults against women outside the family context also is growing. Such assaults are perpetrated against both citizens and foreigners. Unmarried women sometimes are considered to have invited such violence by living or traveling alone. Women have equal rights under the law, and there are no cultural or institutional barriers to education and employment. Women receive equal pay for equal work and are well represented in the lower and middle ranks of government.
Women are active and increasingly successful in private business and enterprises.
A National Women's Advisory Council has existed since 1992, and several small nongovernmental groups are interested in women's issues, particularly those associated with spousal and family violence and abuse. In November there were at least five suicides of youths in Pohnpei. Health officials and religious leaders have proposed starting peer support and family care groups to address the factors that may be leading to this increase in suicides. A compulsory education law requires that all children begin school at the age of 6. Neither laws nor regulations mandate accessibility to public buildings and services for the disabled.