The absence of women lawyers used to be a problem in the newly independent Timor-Leste. When USAID and The Asia Foundation (TAF) launched the Access to Justice program in 2002, local partners pointed out that this gap limited their capacity to serve women clients. The fact is that women often feel more comfortable consulting a female lawyer, especially for sensitive cases, and it was therefore critical to fill the gap.

In response, USAID and TAF agreed to support completion scholarships for Timorese female law students who were forced to abandon their studies in Indonesian universities following the post-referendum violence. Two female law students were identified following discussions with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports for the scholarships: Isabel Perreira at the Law Faculty Universitas Widya Mataram in Yogjakarta, Indonesia; and Rozinda Tilman, at the Law Faculty of Universitas Wisnuwardana Malang, in Malang, Indonesia.

Since returning to Timor-Leste as full-fledged lawyers in 2005, the two have worked in the non-profit sector, focusing on female clients. “Many women here recognize my presence now. They trust me and are confident in my abilities. In the area (where I work), I am known as a ‘women’s lawyer’,” says Ms. Perreira.

Ms. Perreira began work in September 2005 with the women’s NGO Fokupers, helping women pursue their domestic violence cases through the court system. In 2006, she moved to Educasaun Communidade Matebian (ECM) in Baucau and has so far handled about 30 cases involving gender-based violence, civil cases involving women, and general criminal cases. “In Timor-Leste today,” she says, “women’s cases are diverse and complex, and are not limited to gender-based violence.”

She also volunteers as a legal advisor to Baucau Buka Hatene, a committee focusing on women’s issues in her area. She works closely with the group and police investigators as they coordinate their efforts to solve women’s problems and explore strategies for publicizing women’s rights and the legal resources available to them in the district.

Not one to wait for female clients to find her, she actively looks for women who may need her services by coordinating with police investigators and village leaders, monitoring police reports and the court clerk’s registry, and even approaching women personally.

Her efforts have helped her organization serve more female clients than ever before. Not all of them have litigation in mind, she adds, as some clients are “specifically asking for a female lawyer’s assistance to make peace”.

Life as a women’s lawyer in Timor-Leste has similarly been hectic for Rozinda Tilman. She started working with the gender unit at Fortuna legal aid service, providing legal counsel and mediation for women. She is now the head of the gender division of “Ukun Rasik An” (URA), another legal aid service. As the head of her legal aid office’s gender division, Ms. Tilman is often called upon to interview and advise many of the organization’s female clients.

Ms. Tilman says that she has come to admire her female clients in the course of her work. “When I tell my female clients about women’s rights, they say, ‘I have heard so much about women’s rights, but it’s only now that I feel I actually have them.’ They feel that rights only mean something when these provide a solution to their problems,” she says.

Ms. Tilman is currently helping establish a mobile legal service team in four villages in the subdistrict of Aileu. The team has been coordinating with the various villages in the course of its work, to ensure that mediation and litigation complement each other. Since joining URA, Ms. Tilman has also helped forge a referral network among legal and women’s organizations.

She believes that women’s access to justice in Timor-Leste has improved considerably: “I have learned that Timorese women are really strong. A woman wants her own life; she wants to be treated well. Women in Timor-Leste are now more aware of their rights, and they exercise them more.” But, she adds, Timor-Leste still needs more female lawyers and judges, to further improve women’s access to justice.

The Timorese women whom the two lawyers have helped and served would surely agree.

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