East Timorese Women on Their Way Up

CG-14 Southeast Asia Curt Gabrielson, a science teacher and an Institute Fellow, is observing the re- ICWA establishment of education in East Timor. East Timorese Women LETTERS On Their Way Up By Curt Gabrielson Since 1925 the Institute of FEBRUARY 1, 2002 Current World Affairs (the Crane- BAUCAU, East Timor – I recently overheard my partner Pamela describing the Rogers Foundation) has provided situation of women in East Timor to a friend who had just arrived. She went long-term fellowships to enable through the various successes that women’s groups have had in recent politics, outstanding young professionals the constitution-writing process, and the efforts to stop violence against women. to live outside the United States Then, to wrap up she said, “So, the way things stand, the situation is not horrible.” and write about international areas and issues. An exempt After some thought, I realized that “not horrible” is indeed the best that can operating foundation endowed by be said right now. There is great hope, and much progress has been made, but the the late Charles R. Crane, the situation is still unacceptable for Institute is also supported by many, many women. True equality contributions from like-minded and justice are still far in the dis- individuals and foundations. tance for the women of East Timor. In my previous newsletter I TRUSTEES outlined the prevalence of violence Joseph Battat against East Timorese women and Mary Lynne Bird the increasingly insistent efforts to Steven Butler stop it. I pointed out that violence William F. Foote against women is a logical place to Kitty Hempstone start when considering the condi- Pramila Jayapal tion of women (or justice) in any Peter Bird Martin society. As long as women are con- Ann Mische fined to their homes by fear of Dasa Obereigner men’s violence, as long as a woman Paul A. Rahe can think that enduring violence is Carol Rose a necessary or normal part of her Chandler Rosenberger burden in life, as long as there is no John Spencer support for a woman victim of Edmund Sutton men’s violence, and as long as po- Dirk J. Vandewalle litical leaders refuse to take violence against women seriously, HONORARY TRUSTEES equality, justice and yes, democ- David Elliot racy, are out of reach. David Hapgood Women weaving the traditional East Violence, however, is by no Pat M. Holt Timorese tais. These women are part of a local means the only way that men keep Edwin S. Munger women’s weaving cooperative. Richard H. Nolte women down. Laws, both written Albert Ravenholt and unwritten, made by ancestors, by the church, by various colonizers and even Phillips Talbot some of those laws currently being drafted, create a system within which women must struggle just to exist with anything like autonomy over their lives and bod- ies. Many of these laws insure, explicitly or not, that women are unable to attain Institute of Current World Affairs positions equal to those of men. Women in East Timor today are chipping away at The Crane-Rogers Foundation these legal walls that have restricted them for so long. In this newsletter, I will lay Four West Wheelock Street out what I have observed about the status of women in East Timor, and some of Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 U.S.A. the progress that they have made in their fight for equality. Looking at a society with an eye for where women are and aren’t is a simple and illuminating way to get a basic idea of the position The stated objective of the Unit was advocating gender of women. In East Timor, women aren’t driving, except equity and equality and for a society in which women an occasional scooter. Women are in the kitchen, without are “equal partners with men in the promotion of sus- men. Neither women nor girls are gathering informally tainable development, peace and security, governance on street corners or parks. Women are with the kids, al- and human rights.” As a basis for its work here, it fol- most exclusively. Women aren’t doing heavy construc- lowed various UN charters related to the status of women tion, transport or “trades” jobs. Women are in the fields, as well as the East Timorese Woman’s Platform of Ac- working hard. Women are rarely at the beach, but often tion, which was adopted at the first East Timorese at the market. Many women run small shops, but few Women’s Congress in July 2000. run large businesses. Women are hauling water, wash- ing clothes and cleaning the house. Women are working The UN Gender Affairs Unit existed within UNTAET together to weave baskets and cloth, mend clothing, hull until late 2001. At that time, a corresponding office, called and winnow rice, prepare veg- etables to cook and preserve, and make candles. Women are not sit- ting listlessly about like the swarms of men and boys I see daily. Official statistics add to the story. Since the middle of last year, women have comprised a steady 25 percent of all East Timorese civil servants. The foreign-affairs department has the highest per- centage of women: 40 percent. Women make up only 30 percent of the teaching force. In all my school visits and teacher trainings, I’ve encountered only five women physics teachers. The new physics department at the university, in which I teach, is about 25 percent women, same as the university as a whole. My colleague Terezinha, the only physics teacher in East Timor with a bachelor’s East Timor’s Constituent As- degree, flanked by her cousins Veronica and Elvira sembly, a governing body elected last August with the task of creating East Timor’s constitution, the Office for the Promotion of Equality, was created is 27 percent women. The previous legislative body, the Na- within the embryonic East Timor government, called the tional Council, appointed by leaders in the United Na- East Timor Provisional Administration (ETPA). Before its tions Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET), was closure, the UN Gender Affairs Department carried out 38 percent women. Women cabinet ministers within the many capacity-building workshops for women and gov- national government number two out of ten. ernment offices. It compiled and made available statistics on gender issues and provided a “gender analysis” Many are excited about these numbers, because they of existing as well as proposed legislation. It also worked are, in essence, “not horrible.” True, the numbers are high to establish and support networks, locally and globally, in comparison with the U.S. and many other countries, to increase women’s participation in the governing of East but they hardly represent equality when it is remembered Timor. that women make up 51 percent of the world’s popula- tion. Maria Domingas Fernandez, known as Mana (“Sis- ter”) Micato, directs the Office for the Promotion of Equal- UNTAET’s Gender Affairs Unit was formed early in ity. Mana Micato was a founder and long-time activist the UN mission to promote equality between men and with Fokupers, the women’s organization I described in women in the transitional governments. This work is part my last letter.1 She ran as an independent candidate in of a broader commitment by the UN to gender equality. last August’s election, but was not elected.2 In her present 1 Fokupers is the short form for the Bahasa Indonesia, “Forum Komunicasi Perempuan” meaning “Woman’s Communication Fo- rum.” Fokupers’ mission is to provide services and advocacy to women survivors of violence. 2 As explained in CG-11, independent candidates had to win the same number of votes as entire political parties in order to gain a seat in the election for the Constituent Assembly. None of the three national independent candidates was successful. 2 CG-14 time she worked with the women’s branch of the largest political party, Fretilin (Frente Revolucionara do Timor Leste Independente), which was called OPMT (Organizasao Popular da Mulher Timorense). She and the other women of OPMT organized literacy courses for women and daily political discussions. She knows well the critical role women played in the resistance to Indonesia’s occupation. She has seen that women are ca- pable of educating themselves and developing community cooperatives to promote health and local economy, and believes that today women need to find ways to con- tinue this grassroots organizing as well as demand in- clusion in community decision-making and national policy-making. One of Mana Micato’s principal goals is to increase Mana Micato in her office the strength of women’s voices in the process of devel- position, she has the opportunity to push the new gov- opment and nation-building. She tells of a backlash that ernment to commit itself to improve conditions for has taken place since the departure of Indonesia: whereas women in East Timor. in the past women were strongly encouraged to take part in the struggle for independence and their contributions Currently Mana Micato administers three interna- were truly valued, now male leaders are much less inter- tional staff members (who formerly worked with the gender-affairs unit) and four East Timorese staff, with two more local staff to be hired soon. She has not received a budget beyond normal office ex- penditures so, until further shifts in the governing structure, has to rely on UN agencies, nongovern- mental organizations (NGOs) and foreign-government aid agencies for financial support needed to ex- ecute any programs. At this time she works with UNIFEM, the UN agency for the promotion of women, to carry out workshops in the districts to educate women about her office and the various organizations serving women in East Timor.

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