The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has published the findings of its 6-month research project into how Timor-Leste' traditional justice systems handle cases of gender-based violence. IRC Program Manager Aisling Swaine conducted the research and wrote the 150-page report, which was presented at a public launch on September 4, 2003. The project was funded by an $89,100 grant from USAID.

Swaine and her team traveled across Timor-Leste, talking to more than 100 people about local justice systems, and interviewing 60 women about their experiences as they sought protection from violence.
The research report makes a series of detailed recommendations to the government, international donors, and non-governmental organizations. These organizations should:

• address the high level of gender-based violence in Timor-Leste through education programs that challenge participants' acceptance and justification of the present level of violence

• conduct further research into how local justice systems can exacerbate rather than alleviate gender-based violence, how best to protect the rights of children in local justice adjudication, and how local systems interface with the country's formal justice system

• initiate local-level debate on formalizing the relationship between the local justice and formal justice systems, involving not only community members and elected representatives, but also those who control and administer local justice systems

• encourage the government's Office for Promotion of Equality to document and address those aspects of Timorese culture and society that block women's rights, and to support policies and legislation that implement the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

• expand the training of the police force to enable all police officers to respond to reports of gender-based violence in ways that protect women and their rights.

• establish services to assist and support victims of gender-based violence and exploitation.

At the report's launch IRC Country Director Belinda King said, "Cultural practices that are harmful to women, particularly those that rob them of a fair hearing and their legal entitlements, work against the empowerment of women and consequently the empowerment of half of Timor-Leste's society…I am confident that this study will be built on and influence work that will in turn continue to empower the women of Timor-Leste."