The number of cases of physical and sexual assaults against women outside the family context also are growing. These 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 been in existence since 1992, and several small nongovernmental groups are interested in women's issues, particularly those 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 activities 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. A compulsory education law that requires 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.