ومن المألوف أن تطمئن النساء في الغالب على توفير الرعاية الممكنة لكل شخص في الأسرة قبل أن يبدأن في طلب العلاج لأنفسهن، وهو ما يؤدي بالتالي إلى تفاقم الأمراض اللاتي يُصَبن بها.
In some districts such as Lautem, where support for women's participation is relatively strong, women have put themselves forward for local positions, only to withdraw their candidature at a later stage. Furthermore, events of 1975 and more recently 1999 have prevented many women from becoming prominent in the community due to fear of violence or reprisals.