There also are a growing number of cases of physical and sexual assaults against women outside the family context. These assaults are perpetrated against both citizens and foreigners. Unmarried women are sometimes 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 enterprise.
There has been a National Women's Advisory Council in existence since 1992, and there are several small nongovernmental groups interested in women's issues, particularly ones associated with spousal and family violence and abuse. The Government is committed to children's welfare through its programs of health care and education, but these have not been adequate to meet the needs of the country's sharply growing population in an environment in which the extended family is breaking down. There is a compulsory education law that requires that all children begin school at the age of 6. Children may leave school when they reach the age of 14 or after completing the eighth grade, whichever comes first. Neither laws nor regulations mandate accessibility to public buildings and services for the disabled.