In this week’s SoroptiVoice blog  Theresa
Devasahayam, President-Elect of Soroptimist International of Singapore, writes about violence against women in Timor-Leste and a project supported by SI Singapore that protects and supports victims.

Timor-Leste or East Timor is one of the youngest countries in the world, having been created on 20 May 2002. Most people remember Timor-Leste because it had been under Indonesian occupation for 25 years. Under those years of tumult, there was much suffering and violence. Women bore the brunt of war as victims of violence. Independence, however, did not mean that violent acts against women came to a halt. Instead violence against women continues for a host of reasons.

Domestic violence is the most common form of violence faced by women in Timor. It includes physical and sexual violence, verbal abuse, restrictions of freedom of movement, and withholding funds. Service statistics from 2004 indicate that GBV cases made up more than fifty percent of all cases brought to the police and around one third of the cases raised in the court that year. In fact, of all the crimes reported to the police in recent years, domestic violence crimes tended to be the highest in all the districts in the country.

The Timorese government is firmly committed to ending violence against women and girls in its goal towards the country’s development. It has addressed violence against women on three fronts—legislation, intervention, and advocacy—which is an obvious signal on its part that it views violence against women as a human rights issue and therefore a serious concern. On 21 June 2010, the Law Against Domestic Violence(LADV) was passed. This means that any act of violence against women and girls is regarded as a public crime.

                                               

A poster in Tetum depicting violence against girls and women as a crime.

In the fight against violence against women along with the Timorese government is a congregation of Roman Catholic nuns called the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit or otherwise known as the Holy Spirit sisters. In Salele in the district of Covalima, the madres (Portuguese; religious sisters) run a “Safe House” (Tetum; Uma Mahon) or shelter called the Centre of Hope Salele where victims of violence reside while their cases are tried in court under the domestic violence law.

Established in 2008,the shelter was built with funds from Justice Facility, an arm of AusAID.Funding from the Timorese government through Ministry of Social Solidarity (MSS) goes towards buying food and drinks. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is also actively involved by way of contributing financially towards buying materials for the craft work and sewing activities the girls/women engage in as well as purchasing mattresses for the beds at the shelter, and donating a truck which the madres use to buy supplies for the shelter.

 

Two of the nuns who run the shelter

Since the facility was established, there have been a total of 65 girls and women finding refuge at the shelter while currently there are 45 girls, children and women residing at the shelter. The girls residing at the shelter range from 10-18 years of age. Some have had children from the sexual assaults and, for this reason, babies and children also reside at the shelter. Although the shelter also receives women, their numbers are far smaller than the girls primarily because of the lack of space since these women usually bring their children along with them. Hence these women who have been physically or sexually abused mostly end up having to stay in a relative’s home or to find some other solution while their cases are pending in court.

The madres manage the day-to-day activities at the shelter and ensure that the girls/women are safe and well-taken care of. They also ensure that the victims receive the necessary medical attention they require by accompanying them to the doctor or hospital should the victimbe pregnant. Moreover, they transport and accompany the victims to the court once their cases are adjourned. Aside from seeing to the physical needs of thegirls/women, the madres also engage in trauma counseling, a task which they view to be critical since many of thesegirls/women need psychological help because of the ordeal they had undergone.

 

A room at the shelter where the girlslearn how to sew and engage in craftwork.

Although the Roman Catholic Church continues to uphold the preservation of the family while at the same time discourages the break-up of the family, the victim-focused role of these nuns cannot be underestimated. In fact, these nuns play an ever important role in addressing violence against women since the Church continues to be seen as a refuge to the Timorese people. But more than a symbol of spiritual and moral capital, these nuns are agents of change at the community level in helping other women achieve justice in their own way while raising awareness on domestic violence as a public crime.

In August 2013,members of Soroptimist International of Singapore (SIS) welcomed the idea of supporting the work of the shelter in Salele, having learned about the work  of this group of sisters through a new member who had visited the shelter in 2012 as a United Nations consultant. The impetus for supporting the shelter came from the fact that Violence against Women was a focus of Soroptimist International.

The women of SIS rallied together to raise funds through a bake sale in Novemberand December 2013. Additionally, nine “Christmas boxes” containing gifts of girls’ and women’s clothing, children’s clothing, footwear, bags, kitchen utensils, children’s toys, baby’s diapers, bedding and blankets, Christmas decorations and so forth were transported to Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, through the goodwill of a team of volunteers from Expedition Agape—a youth initiative of Lakeside Services in Singapore —who were making a trip to Timor-Leste to build a basketball court for a school in a village. There were also monetary donations collected for the shelter. These gifts of money and kind were donated by friends of the various club members through a donation drive.

Members of Expedition Agape presenting monetary donations to the Sisters from the shelter at the Dili airport last December.

In 2014, SIS will continue to support the shelter in Salele with another bake sale at the end of the year.In 2015, plans are underway to secure books for children and youth in the Portuguese,English and Indonesian languages to be sent to the shelter with the donations collected. Aware that the work of the nuns is unending, members of SIS intend to continue supporting the shelter in whatever way the madres see fit and relevant to their own efforts.