Are East Timor’s female parliamentarians making their voices heard on gender-responsive policies and legislation?
IR: Getting the draft law against domestic violence passed this year is what we are focused on right now. SEPI led the process of preparing the domestic violence law that was presented to the Council of Ministers in August and has been approved in principle, but it has yet to be debated in the parliament. It’s an important law to prevent domestic violence in East Timor and it will provide a framework for a national strategy on gender-based violence. Even though we feel we have strong voices, we know the mentality of Timorese people because we are a patriarchal society and we need to develop step by step. But I know the women parliamentarians are very strong. There is progress. It’s easy enough for us to lobby with other women, but sometimes to lobby men is very difficult. IPS: How would you rate the progress that SEPI has made so far? IR: I feel that some progress is ongoing. SEPI has regular meetings with the women parliamentarians, so we have good collaboration to discuss any difficu
