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New Report Shines
a Light on Gender-Based Violence and Local Justice (October 6,
2003)
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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: |
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IRC Program Manager Aisling Swaine interviewed women across
Timor-Leste for her new report on traditional justice and gender-based
violence.
Photo by Lisa Rogers, USAID-ET Small Grants Program
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• 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."
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