Day 4: Taking Steps for Women’s Empowerment

Violence against women is one of the most important underlying factors which prevents full participation of women in the economy.^[1]

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Opening of the Australia-US Pacific Women’s Empowerment Policy Dialogue: Stopping Violence Against Women
3-4 November 2011

Following 25 years of violence and trauma during the Indonesian occupation and its immediate aftermath, gender-based violence is still an issue in Timor-Leste. As Rudd emphasised, sexual and gender-based violence is one of the key factors limiting women’s full participation in the economy, which in turn impedes the economic and social development of states.^[2]

In Timor-Leste gender inequalities are consistently observed in income levels and participation in the labour market. For example, in Timor-Leste women’s participation in the non-agricultural labour market was less than 40% between 2001 and 2007.^[3] Across the region women’s participation in labour markets is around 67%, whereas men’s participation is close to 86%.^[4]

The Taking Steps project – a partnership between IWDA, Friends of Suai (City of Port Phillip), Covalima Community Centre (CCC) and Organisasaun Haburas Moris (OHM) – is increasing rural women’s access to economic opportunity and sustainable livelihoods by developing a network of groups of rural women building micro-businesses.

This year, the Taking Steps project worked with approximately 200 women in twelve locations in Bobonaro and Covalima districts. This saw women taking on leadership and training roles, often for the first time, identifying new markets and products, such as handmade crafts and agricultural products, and generating small but useful amounts of income. CCC and OHM staff facilitated groups of women in each area to establish savings and loans funds that provide a much-needed safety net in a vulnerable environment.

Whilst the project does not focus specifically on addressing violence against women, staff from CCC and OHM said that it is a problem in the districts of Bobonaro and Covalima where they work, and that women and communities still lack information about the Law Against Domestic Violence, which was enacted in July 2010 by the National Parliament of Timor-Leste.

CCC actively participates in a referral network in Covalima district composed of other non-governmental organisations, police and government agencies. Through the network, CCC helps share information about the Law Against Domestic Violence and the justice process to the women’s groups they support and to the wider community, as well as reporting cases of domestic violence to relevant authorities.

Coordinator of CCC Alberto de Jesus Barros said that he believed empowering women economically had the potential to reduce violence, because it lessens the stress at home.

OHM’s Managing Director Rince Nipu says it is important that communities identify their own solutions to preventing violence against women, “We need to listen carefully to what positive solutions the community has to prevent violence against women and build on and promote those.”

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[1] Australian Agency for International Development ‘’Stopping violence against women’ Opening of the Australia-US Pacific Women’s Empowerment Policy Dialogue‘ 9 November 2011.
[2] Susan Harris-Rimmer, ‘After the guns fall silent: sexual and gender-based violence in Timor-Leste,’ Timor-Leste Armed Violence Assessment. Number 5, November 2009.
[3] Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals , Timor-Leste, 2009.
[4] Australian Agency for International Development ‘’Stopping violence against women’ Opening of the Australia-US Pacific Women’s Empowerment Policy Dialogue‘ 9 November 2011.

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The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. For each of the 16 Days from 25 November to 10 December 2011, the IWDA website will be featuring a different piece to highlight the work of our partners and explore ways that IWDA supporters can take part in the effort to end gender-based violence.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2011 under 16_Days, East Timor, Front page.