Human rights in the Marshall Islands and chronic domestic violence" and other human rights problems included "child abuse, sex trafficking, and lack of legal provisions protecting workers' rights." As a member state of the United Nations the Marshall Islands is subject to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a process that involves a review of human rights records. By the time of its UPR in 2010, the Marshall Islands, among other states in the Asia Pacific, was reluctant to form a National Human Rights Institution despite recommendations for its establishment from the Human Rights Council. However, in 2015 the Marshall Islands passed legislation to set up a
History of the Marshall Islands History of the Marshall Islands Micronesians settled the Marshall Islands in the 2nd millennium BC, but there are no historical or oral records of that period. Over time, the Marshall Island people learned to navigate over long ocean distances by canoe using traditional stick charts. Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526, commanding the ship "Santa Maria de la Victoria", the only surviving vessel of the Loaísa Expedition. On August 21, he sighted an island (probably Taongi) at 14°N that he named "San Bartolome". On September 21, 1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón