Supporting Community-led Initiatives to Promote Women's Engagement in Peace-Building and Prevention of Sexual Violence in Timor Leste

This initiative is informed by a gender-sensitive approach. The components of the campaign that are geared toward women are designed to: foster community protection and service components, encourage victims of SGBV to use referral networks, and reinforce a message of empowerment. For men, the campaign aims to re-define male roles and perceptions towards gender-based and domestic violence through the use of male role models.

Specifically, the key strategy underpinning the male-based campaign is the involvement of prominent male personnel in speaking out for women's right to be free of violence. In an effort to stress that gender is not just a women's issue, the posters portray well-known men staring directly into the camera with their arms crossed in a determined stance; the goal is to promote the role of men in advocating for EVAW and supporting women's rights. The use of a black and white format for these posters is a strategy for garnering attention, as this aesthetic is distinctive on the social and media landscape in Timor-Leste. For instance, 11 of Timor-Leste's foremost figures, such as President Dr. Jose Ramos Horta, Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, and the President of National Parliament, Fernando 'Lasama' de Araujo, are participating in the campaign in order to raise awareness, and perhaps inspire behaviour change, amongst members of the public. Along these lines, the involvement of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste, Dr. Atul Khare, in the campaign is part of an effort to stress the commitment of the United Nations (UN) and the international community to EVAW.

Utilising symbol and colour as an important and consistent stimulus will be a central component of this campaign. As noted above, the print material has a consistent border and colour. In addition, radio and TV PSAs feature the drumming sounds of the babadok (a traditional ceremonial drum played by women in Timor-Leste), which is designed to highlight its symbolism as an instrument for the mobilisation of a unified women's empowerment and action. These PSAs also feature the "clinking" of the bikan kanuru (plate and spoon), an already established sociological aural and visual representation of domestic violence: "bikan no kanuru baku malu" translates to "the plate and the spoon fight each other".

Research is also a key strategy informing the larger 2-year effort; organisers are identifying and mapping relevant rural development programmes in the 2 focus districts (Covalima and Bobonaro) with a view to assessing and establishing linkages to livelihood programmes for victims of SGBV. Specifically, a baseline study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of, and attitudes towards, SGBV. The results of this process will shape efforts to identify and promote women's access to skills training and income generation programmes that are responsive to their needs; these efforts will be carried out in collaboration with programmes such as the European Commission (EC)-funded "Integrated Rural Development Programme", which is being executed by GTZ and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s nationwide recovery programme "Servico ba Dame".

In-person events are being held to raise community awareness as a strategy to prevent violence against women. For example, findings of the baseline study were disseminated during the 16 Days of Activism period, with UNIFEM supporting workshops conducted by the Asia Pacific Support Collective-Timor Leste (APSCTL) in Maliana and Suai. In addition, community discussions on domestic violence and violence against women were held in Iliomar, Lospalos, in collaboration with the East Timorese non-governmental organisation Asosiasaun Mane Kontra Violensia (AMKV). The thinking underlying these efforts is that SGBV can be addressed through comprehensive, joint, and sustained efforts in planning, monitoring, and implementation by key local actors (e.g., local police, district courts, district and sub-district administrators, members of village councils, women's organisations, and victims of SGBV themselves).

Advocacy is being conducted through fact sheets and other materials that include policy recommendations; the goal is to influence political parties to include SGBV in their political platforms. These materials include PSAs as well as popular and illustrated versions of summaries of the report. Synergies will be created between this activity and UNIFEM's Integrated Programme for Women in Politics and Decision Making, which is a 2-phased programme conducted designed to build the capacity of female elected officials in the context of the 2007 elections, as well as the Programme for Enhancement of Rural Women's Leadership (PERWL), which works with men and women in the village councils and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) programme.

Women, Gender, Rights.

Organisers explain that, unlike in many post-conflict contexts, SGBV is actually one of the most frequently reported crimes in Timor-Leste. UNIFEM attributes this high reporting level to a campaign launched by the former Special Representative of the Secretary General in Timor-Leste, Sergio Viera de Melo, which was designed to bring a taboo issue into the arena of public concern. Even though today SGBV is a much more recognised issue than in the past, UNIFEM claims that very few of the cases reported are successfully brought to trial, and very few women are given redress for the crimes committed against them (largely due to a weak judiciary, inadequate victim support, and prevailing patriarchal cultural biases). Thus, for victims of SGBV, UNIFEM explains, there have been few changes between cases suffered during the military occupation and conflict, when rape was used as a tool of war, and current types of sexual violence. The situation of women is particularly precarious in isolated villages within the western border districts, where populations are especially vulnerable due to geographical isolation, history of violence and sexual abuse, incest, and lack of economic opportunities. The border districts are also reportedly vulnerable to trafficking.