Women in East Timor

Among the traditional practices challenging the status of women in East Timor or women in Timor-Leste include not being able to inherit or own property[2] and the cultural notion that women normally belong to the home.[3]

Women in East Timor
A pair of East Timorese women performing a traditional dance.
Gender Inequality Index
ValueNR
RankNR
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)300
Women in parliament38.5% (2012)
Women in labour force38.4% (2011)
Global Gender Gap Index[1]
Value0.638 (2018)
Rank124th out of 153

Apart from these customary concepts, East Timorese women also confront domestic violence. Rape cases and sexual slavery were allegedly committed by East Timorese pro-integration militias during the September 1999 crisis in East Timor.[2] One of the organizations that promote empowerment and foster gender equality for the women of East Timor is the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).[3] In 2010, a law was passed making domestic violence a public crime, but the practice remained prevalent nevertheless. In a 2009–10 Demographic and Health Survey, 36% of married women reported having experienced physical, psychological or sexual violence from their husband or partner, but only 24% reported discussing this with anyone and only 4% reported seeking help from the police.[4] According to the same survey, 71% of men believe that the wife's neglecting children justifies the husband's beating her, while 72% of women believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife if she goes out without informing him.[5] According to activists in non-governmental organizations such as Asisténsia Legál ba Feto no Labarik, domestic violence is severely under-reported and the punishments are not deterrent: in one case, a man who "stabbed his wife in the back of the head and struck her repeatedly with a block of wood, after an argument about feeding their children" only received a suspended jail sentence of seven months.[6]

Sex trafficking

Citizen and foreign women and girls have been victims of sex trafficking in East Timor.[7][8] They are raped and physically and psychologically harmed in brothels, hotels, homes, and other locations throughout the country.[9]

See also

References

Further reading


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