TIMOR-LESTE, IN FIRST REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH WOMEN’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today recognized the recent legislative and policy efforts of Timor-Leste to improve the lot of women in the Southeast Asian island nation’s traditional patriarchal society, but expressed concern over continuing discriminatory practices in schools, the workplace and family life.

Presenting Timor-Leste’s initial periodic report on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, Idelta Maria Rodrigues, Secretary of State for Promotion and Equality, said a male-dominated culture and years of conflict had hindered women’s livelihood and well-being. But since gaining independence in 2002, the Government, with the support of the United Nations and development partners, had worked hard to promote women’s rights and empowerment.

Following ratification of the women’s Convention and its Optional Protocol in 2003, Timor-Leste’s Government had created a Penal Code with a gender perspective and provisions that criminalized domestic violence. It had also set up gender focal points in Government Ministries, launched gender awareness campaigns in the national media, and signed a pact with civil society and religious organizations to develop gender-sensitive budgeting and a health policy, as well as partnerships for resource and knowledge sharing on gender equality.

Article 17 of the Constitution guaranteed full equality between the sexes in all spheres of life, she said. Moreover, slated for approval this year by the Council of Ministers was a draft law establishing equal land and property rights for men and women, as well as a bill to prevent domestic violence, protect victims and guarantee their legal rights through strong regulation and support centres.

While lauding those efforts, Committee experts expressed concern over low school enrolment and graduation rates among girls, particularly pregnant teens, as well as sexual harassment and intimidation by male teachers. Girls, they said, needed a comfortable environment to learn and must be free from societal pressure to quit their studies if they got pregnant. They asked why divorced women were expected to return to their parents’ home.

Some experts were worried that women on average earned just one eighth of men’s pay and were often denied maternity leave or not allowed to return to work after taking leave, even though the law guaranteed those rights. They encouraged Timor-Leste to ratify the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) conventions on equal pay, treatment and opportunity in the workplace. Others felt that not enough was being done to protect girls and women from violence, prostitution and trafficking, as well as from forced labour.

Assuring the Committee that it was trying its hardest to fulfil its obligations and provide the necessary information, the delegation said that while Timor-Leste was a young country, it intended to include all its citizens equally in building its future. To the series of questions about children and education, the delegation said it took time to change the age-old mentality condoning corporal punishment. Work was under way meanwhile by the Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality and the Education Ministry to end sexual harassment and violence against girls, particularly in remote areas, which had led many parents to remove their daughters from school.

The delegation confirmed that child labour was banned, and in June, the Government had ratified International Labour Organization Convention No. 182 on eliminating the worst forms. Also, it had prepared a memorandum of understanding with the National University on information sharing and assistance to students interested in gender studies. The Government had also launched intensive training programmes on gender issues for professors.
To additional concerns about practices in the workplace, Ms. Rodrigues said women public servants had the right to take maternity leave and resume their positions without penalty, but the situation was uneven in other employment fields and had to be improved through awareness-raising and other measures. The Government was working to educate women on how they could file complaints of sexual harassment that occurred on the job.

Regarding domestic violence, the draft law on that would definitely pass soon in the Council of Ministers, and possibly by year’s end in the Parliament. The national police had been trained to assist victims in the rural areas, and shelters had been set up in Dili, the capital, and in three other districts. A study on trafficking and immigration of prostitutes would soon be conducted.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m., on Friday, 31 July, to consider the combined initial to sixth periodic report of Liberia.

For more information on the Timor Leste Presentation Report released by the OHCHR please refer to this link http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/wom1747.doc.htm