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Seychelles Status of Women
Women enjoy the same legal, political, economic, and
social
rights as men. Women form nearly half of the enrollment at
the
prestigious Seychelles Polytechnic, the highest level of
education on the islands. In 1994 two women held cabinet
posts--
the minister of foreign affairs, planning, and environment
and
the minister of agriculture and marine resources--and
women
filled other major positions. In the early 1990s, many
SPPF
branch leaders were women, although in government as a
whole
women were underrepresented. According to the Department
of
State's Human Rights Report for 1993, "The
Geneva-based
Inter-Parliamentary union cited Seychelles as having the
world's
highest percentage of female representation in its
parliament (at
45.8 percent of the total delegates."
Seychellois society is essentially matriarchal. Mothers
tend
to be dominant in the household, controlling most current
expenditures and looking after the interests of the
children. Men
are important for their earning ability, but their
domestic role
is relatively peripheral. Older women can usually count on
financial support from family members living at home or
contributions from the earnings of grown children.
Data as of August 1994
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