PROJ ECT in
SOCI AL
SUBMITTED BY: Emil Ian Garcia SUBMITTED TO: Ms. Sandra
SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Laos' population was estimated at 6.5 million in early 2011, dispersed unevenly across the country. Most people live in valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries. Vientiane prefecture, the capital and largest city, had about 799,000
residents in 2009. The country's population density was 27/sq. km. About half the country's people are ethnic Lao, the principal lowland inhabitants as well as the politically and culturally dominant group. The Lao are descended from the Tai people who began migrating southward from China in the first millennium A.D. Mountain tribes of Hmong-Yao, and TibetoBurman (Kor and Phounoy) as well as Tai ethno-linguistic heritage are found in northern Laos. Until recently, they were known as Lao Sung or highland Lao. In the central and southern mountains, Austro Asiatic (Mon-Khmer and VietMuong) tribes, formerly known as Lao Theung or mid-slope Lao, predominate. Some Vietnamese and Chinese minorities remain, particularly in the towns, but many left in two waves--after partial independence in the late 1940s and again after 1975. The predominant religion is Theravada Buddhism. Animism is common among the mountain tribes. Buddhism and spirit worship coexist easily. There also are small numbers of Christians and Muslims.
WOMEN
SOCIETY OF
Laotian women have long been active participants in their nation's society, involved in politics, driving social
transformation and development, becoming active in the world of business and serving as nurses and food producers for the military. Due to modernization and rural uprooting, Lao women have begun to embrace lifestyles that are foreign to traditional Laotian ideals.
WOMEN
SOCIAL STATUS OF
Lao womens concerns were first formally addressed by a national government in1975, with the ascendancy to power of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party. The new communist regime had earlier promised to realise equality between men and women in all fields, political, economic, cultural and social, and to do away with all acts of contempt or oppression toward women (Brown and Zasloff 1986: Appendix A). On taking power, the LPRP encouraged women to participate in activities of national reconstruction and the building of socialism. In spite of the Governments formal commitment to eradicate gender inequality and its promotion of womens economic participation, Lao women today have far from achieved parity with Lao men in the areas mentioned. Considerable advances have been made in womens access to education and employment since 1975, but womens social status and political representation remains low. (Ng, 1991: 174-5.) Furthermore, the direeconomic situation faced by the country has imposed increasing demands on the timeand energy of women.
VIOLATIONAGAINST WOMEN'S RIGHTS
The Lao People's Democratic Republic, with a World Bankestimated population of 6.3 million, is an authoritarian oneparty state ruled by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). The most recent National Assembly (NA) election was held in 2006. The constitution legitimizes only a single party, the LPRP, and almost all candidates in the 2006 election were LPRP members vetted by the party. The LPRP generally maintained effective control of the security forces. The central government continued to deny citizens the right to change their government. Prison conditions were harsh and at times life threatening. Corruption in the police and judiciary persisted. The government infringed on citizens' right to privacy and did not respect the rights to freedom of speech, the press, assembly, or association. Local officials at times restricted religious freedom and freedom of movement. Trafficking in persons, especially women and girls for prostitution, remained a problem, as did discrimination against ethnic minorities. Workers' rights were restricted.
