obstacles effective participation women in education

8/11/2019 Obstacles Effective Participation Women in Education

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TABLE O F CONTENT

TABLE OF CONTENT

..........................................................................................................

3

ACRONYMS

...........................................................................................................................

4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

.....................................................................................................

5

OBSTACLES TO THE EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN ADULT

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

OCUS ONSOCIO-CULTURAL ACTORS

...................... 7

RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK

........................................................

7

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

...........................................................................................

9

Information sources .................................................................................................................. 9

Dynamics andLimits

............................................................................................................... 10

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

..............................................................................................

11

The Case or Culture. Women and Education ........................................................................ Il

Constructionof Gender Relations.,

.........................................................................................

13

RESEARCH FINDINGS ...................................................................................................... 16

Traditions.

Myths.

Metaphors: Women sSense

of Duty

........................................................ 16

CONTROL.OLES. ELATIONS:OMAN SORMATION..................................................... 19

Knowledge and Power in the Community and Government ................................................... 22

Reproduction of Gender Perceptions in Girlsand Boys ......................................................... 23

TRACING WOMEN S ACCESS TO FORMAL EDUCATION

......................................

26

w h y

most

women

today did not go to school

.......................................................................... 26

Current Perceptions on Education for Girls

...........................................................................

27

Meaning-Making

n

Gender

................................................................................................... 30

INTERVENTIONS

AND

PERCEPTIONS

........................................................................

32

Mapping ofliteracy Programs

............................................................................................... 32

Approaches

..............................................................................................................................

33

.

Who is Working

Where

.......................................................................................................... 32

MOTIVATIONS FOR LEARNING

....................................................................................

36

STRATEGIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

..................................................................

39

Frameworkon Literacy and Women ....................................................................................... 39

Pedagogy ................................................................................................................................. 41

Tools

and Techniques .............................................................................................................. 43

Approachesfor Organizing ..................................................................................................... 45

Policy advocacy ...................................................................................................................... 46

Networks and Structures .........................................................................................................

47

Synthesis of

Strategies

............................................................................................................. 48

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ANNEX 1: LIST OF RESPONDENTS ................................................................................

51

ANNEX 2: LIST OF REFERENCES .................................................................................. 57

ACRONYMS i

GFFTL:

Gr upo Feto Foi n Sa e Ti mor Lorosa r (East Ti mor Yout h Women

Organi zati on)

Loke Dal an (l ocal NGO Liqui sa)ODA:

ND : Nati onal Democr acy Insti tuti on

NGO:

Non Gover nment Organi zati on

OGB: Oxf amGreat Bri tai n

OMT: Organi zaco Mul her Ti mor (Organi zati on of Ti morese Women)

OPE:

Gabi nete Da Pr omosaun Da I gual i dada (Ofi ce for the Promoti on O

Equal i ty

OPMT

Organi zaco Popul ar Mul her Ti mor (Popul ar Organi zat i on

of

Ti morese

Women)

Sekol ah Menengah

Atas

(Secondary School )

MA:

SD: Sekol ah Dasar (Pri mary School )

UNDP: Uni ted Nat i on Devel opment Program

UNESCO:

UNI CEF: Uni ted Nat i ons Chi l dren sFund

UNTL : Uni versi dade Naci onal Ti mor Lorosa e (East Ti mor Nati onal

Uni versi ty)

Uni ted Nati on for Educat i on, Scienti fi c and Cul ture Organi zati on

L

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Si nce gai ni ng

its

i ndependence

in 1999, the

government of

East

Ti mor has began worki ng

towards

its

vi si on of providi ng educati on to al and eradi cati ng i l l i teracy among the esti mated

3

50,000

l l i terate Ti morese. Compr i si ng two- thi rds of these are adul t women. Start i ng

2002,

the

government , together

wth

agenci es and non- government organi zati ons, i mpl emented

l i teracy programs for the peopl e, and further i ntroduced aff i rmati ve acti ons to broaden the

women s rol e f r omthe pri vate towards the publ i c spheres through adul t educati on. However ,

the gl ari ng non-parti ci pati on and non- i nvol vement of women conti nues to be a maj or gap and

chal l enge

in

these i nterventi ons.

Thi s

research thus expl ores the two- pronged questi on of why are Ti morese women not

parti cipati ng? and why l i teracy programs for women, and how are these i mpl emented?

Wth

these

questi ons, the research al so ai ms to encourage an assessment of the

i mpl ementati on of l i teracy programs in rel ati on to women s needs and si tuati ons.

Usi ng the cul tural approach, the study il lustrates that a woman s deci si on to parti cipate or not

parti cipate

is

not sol el y based on i ndi vi dual want s or di sinterest, but a deci si on strongl y

i nformed by the norms, rol es, val ues and percepti ons embedded

in

the

home and communi t y.

These i nf l uences on the everyday life of a Ti morese have hi ndered women s parti ci pati on.

Targeti ng women for l i teracy has created questi ons that are both cul tural and pol i ti cal . The

gender equal i ty f r amework

in

l i teracy and other i nterventi ons

i s

vi ewed by others as

an

i mposi ti on f r om internati onal agenci es and not respecti ng the cul ture of Ti mor and

its

tradi ti ons on women and faml y. The research engages th s argument by aski ng the peopl e

their vi ews on the equal i ty of ri ghts between women and men.

In

the process,

i t

i denti fi es the

rea iti es and contenti ous i ssues that may have i mpact on l i teracy and women s empower ment .

Bui l di ng upon the previous assessments of l i teracy programs in Ti mor

wth

parti cul ar

attenti on to l ocal perspecti ves, f r ameworks and approaches to encourage women s

part i ci pati on,

the

researchers

di scussed

wth

part i ci pants of l i teracy classes, faci l i tators, as

wel l as communi t y member s and tradi ti onal l eaders, to l ook into ho w l i teracy for women

i s

appreciated at

the

communi t y l evel . It studi ed the possibi l i ti es for the strong r ecommendat i on

of many NGOs and devel opment pl ayers for l i teracy programs to respect and adapt to the

l ocal contexts of Ti mor. However , gi ven a cul ture that posi ti ons the women as subordi nate to

men, cauti on

must

be taken in such an adaptati on

si nce

th s may l ead to a perpetuati on of the

exi sti ng gender i nequal i ti es. Theref ore, whi l e th s research factors in the suggesti ons for

l i teracy by women,

t

anal yzes these suggesti ons vi s--vi s he transformati ve f r amework of

NGOs. ransf ormati on,

nths

case, means engagi ng both thepubl i c spheres of power- state

and communi t y structures, and the pri vate spheres and

the

everyday l i fe-famly, norms,

habi ts and i nteracti ons where gender i nequal i ti es are mor e easi l y reproduced. Usi ng Paul o

Frei res model

reading the word and the world,

the

research study del ved i nto

the

questi on of Literacy in the Peoples ifeworld or everyday experi ences.

The research fi ndi ngs uncover the

traditions, myths, and symbolisms

that are pervasi ve and

occumng in the everyday life of the faml y and communi t y. Thei r power l ies

in

the seemng

natural ness of theval ues and rol es ascri bed to women. The

i ntervi ews

w th tradi ti onal l eaders

and women provi ded a gl i mpse of how the sel f -worth and l ocati on of women have been

histori cal l y constructed as sel f-sacri f i ci ng,submssi ve, and i nferi or to the husband s posi ti on

in

the faml y and the communi t y.

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The tradi ti onal roles and relations of the women that have gi ven tota control to the men

have al so i mpacted on the womans formation. The woman s domai n i s the home, and

consequent l y, she has very l i mted mobi l i ty and

access

to i nformati on as wel

as

l i mted

capaci ty for anal ysi s and deci si on- maki ng.Whi l e women are influenti al in nutri ti on, reari ng

of chi l dren and agri cul ture, there are mni mal spaces for women s voi ces at the communi t y

and government . The margi nal i zati on

of

women f romkey posi ti ons often

t i mes

was traced to

the women s l ack of capabi l i ty or educati on. Whi l e ths may be true, ths

is

not the onl y

reason. The tradi ti onal noti on that women are l ess capabl e than men al so hi nders the

appreciati on of women s efforts precisel y because of her tradi tional rol es in the faml y and

communi t y.

The study provides di scussi on and several i nsights on how East Ti morese perspecti ve, val ues

and bel i efs rel ati ng to gender i nequal i ty and processes reproducegender inequalities among

its

young. Current perceptions and attitudes on education for girls are l i nked to poverty

and the tradi ti on of betrothi ng women and girls for marri age. The g rls wer e second pri ori ty

for getti ng educati on si nce they

wer e

to l eave the faml y to stay wth the husband. The parents

vi ewed that there was no use spendi ng on the

girls

educati on si nce th s

was

ust to benefi t the

faml y of her husband.

The experi ences and vi ews about literacy and womens empowerment ranged f rom

resistance to negoti ati ng wthi n accepted spheres to radi cal changes. Li teracy was l i nked to

the pol i ti cal act of getti ng out of the dark where the Portuguese

was

sai d to have kept the

Ti morese

for hundreds of years.

The research identi fies the i nterventi ons and percepti ons on the vari ous l i teracy approaches

and their i nf l uences. In its attempt to map out who i s worki ng where, the research strongl y

r ecommends that establ i shi ng the reach of the l i teracy programs i s i mportant in determni ng

how far the government andNGOs are f romachi evi ng the target of eradi cati ng i l l i teracy of

the esti mated

350,000

l l i terate Ti morese

wthin

ten years.

Deri vi ng f romthe insights of women on

ther

moti vati ons for l earni ng,

as

wel as the r

d ffi cu ties in conti nui ng the l earni ng, the research concl udes

wth

an enumerati on of

strategies and recommendati ons to respond to the f i ndi ngs, and pri ncipal l y in addressi ng the

chal l enge of socio-cul tural obstacl es to Ti morese women sparti cipati on in l i teracy.

Some of the strategi es and r ecommendat i ons di scussedare:

The need to devel op rel evant and responsi ve pedagogy;

The i mportance to di scuss cul ture and its i mpact on women;

The i mportance to devel op awareness of women sempower ment among the

men;

The i mportance to target women and to create al women scl asses in order to hel p

women to devel op

thei r

critica and anal yti cal

skills;

The i mportance of usi ng Mother Tongue;

The need to set up Communi t y Resource Centers in order to create a permanent

l earni ng envi ronment;

The i mportance of devel opi ng an equi val ency syst emwth the formal system

The need to set up a worki ng group composed of l i teracy provi ders f romcivi l society

and government to coordi nate the wor k and di scuss pol i cies and strategi es for the Non

Formal sector of Educat i on.

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OBSTACLES TO THE EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION

Focus

on Socio-Cultural

actors

OF WOMEN INADULT EDUCATIONPROGRAMS~

RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK

Each and every Ti morese wll be provi ded educati on upon attai ni ng i ndependence. Thi s was

one resoundi ng promse to

the

peopl e of East Ti mor duri ng its peri od

of

resi stance f rom

I ndonesi an occupati on. After the restorati on of i ndependence in2002, he government started

maki ng good

its

promse to provide educati on, and together wth agenci es and non-

government organi zati ons NGOs)mpl emented l i teracy programs starting

in

the year

2002.

The target was to eradi cate i l l i teracy of an esti mated 50% of the Ti morese popul ati on, or cl ose

to 350, 000 peopl e wth little or no school i ng at a l2. Adul t women compri se two-thi rds of th s

popul ati on. Unfortunatel y, maj ori ty of these women were absent in the l i teracy classes

conducted

in

East Ti mor.

Of the 5, 31O l earners in cl asses conducted by the D vi si on of Non- f ormal Educati on all over

Ti mor ,

70

of the parti cipants are

men3.

There was no targeti ng of women

in

the l i teracy

programpol i cy and i mpl ementati on,and thus, classes were opened to al adul ts regardl ess of

sex and age, w th

the

hope that women woul d take

the

in tiative to learn and attend the cl asses

on readi ng, wi ti ng and numeracy. Maj ori ty of the l earners in al dstricts wer e men, wth the

excepti on of

Dli

where there was an equal rati o of l earners f romboth sexes. In

Dli,

most of

the men parti cipants wer e young, whi l e women wer e between 35 to

40

years old who onl y

managed to attend the classes as rel ati ves f romthe dstricts took charge of the househol d

whi l e they were in class4.

In rebui l di ng East Ti mor , there wer e aff i rmati ve acti ons to broaden women' s rol e f romthe

pri vate towards the publ i c spheres. Asi de f r oml i teracy programs, another key i nterventi on for

maki ng women parti cipate

i s

through adul t educati on programs, set up by di fferent agenci es.

However , the s ame situati on of havi ng l ow attendance of women had been observed. The

UNDP C vi c Educati on conducted bri efi ngs on the Consti tuti on and L aw and on the Rol e of

the Pol i ce in Baucau f romMay to August 2003, and out of the 5,813 adul ts who attended

ths

bri efi ng, 62%were men

whi l e

onl y 38% wer e women despi te the proacti ve efforts to invi te

women' . I n the trai ni ngs on Permacul ture (Trai ni ng on Sustai nabl e and I ntegrated

Agri cul ture)6, faci l i tators reported that onl y 25% of the parti cipants wer e women.

NGO

educators also observed that when women di d manage to attend, they di d not parti cipate

acti vel y and that men domnated the di scussi ons.

The termnol ogy 'adul t educati on' is used in ths research as th s is a broader concept that i ncl udes the

anal yti cal and thi nki ng ski l ls of l earners, whi l e l i teracy tends to f ocus on basi c readi ng, w i ti ng, and numeracy

skills.

The Wa y Forward, Worl d Bank Dec

2003.

Draf t Fr amewor k Paper for Non- f ormal Educat i on,

2003

Based on an i ntervi ewwth D rector General Mahaf ut Bazj her, 3 Mar ch 2003

RRC

UNDP

Ci vi c Educati on Baucau, 2003

A Gender Anal ysi s for Permacul ture in Ti mor- Leste,OGB, 003

2

4

6

Obsi acl cs

to l he

I ttCcti vePaiticipaii~.m

'

Woiricii

in A d u i ~tiucuiioii I~rogi.ariis

1:i~:iis

11

~ i ~ ~ : i ~ ~ - ~ ' L [ t i i L ~ luc,toi.,v

Aiipii~i2004

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8/54

of the Ti morese. Targeti ng women for l i teracy

has

created questi ons and commentar i es that

are

both cul tural and pol i ti cal .

The gender equal i ty f r amework

in

l i teracy and other i nterventi ons is vi ewed by others as

an

i mposi t i on f r omthe Wor l d Bank and i nternati onal

NGOs

and not respecti ng the cul ture of

Ti mor and

its

tradi ti ons on women and faml y. The research engages

ths

argument by aski ng

the peopl e their vi ews on the equal i ty of ri ghts between women and

men.

In the process, t

i denti fi es the rea iti es and contenti ous i ssues that may have i mpact on l i teracy and women s

empower ment

RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

To unravel that cul ture where l i teracy for women is l ocated, the research questi ons covered

the everyday life of faml i es and how expectati ons on the woman are consti tuted, the

communi t y bel i efs and the tradi ti ons that ei ther promote or retard women s i nvol vement and

lastl y, cul tural percepti ons and practi ces that affect women s access to and w l l i ngness for

educati on. I n these questi ons,

there

was an attempt to

see

how these percepti ons and nor ms

were constructed hi stori cal l y. The di l emma wth cul tural anal ysi s i s

the

broadness of

concerns that a research may cover and the rather ci rcui tous approach to understandi ng.

Gi ven the col orful accounts gi ven by tradi ti onal l eaders and vari ed stori es and requests

expressed by the women, the research had to limt the i nsights that are deemed to have a

strong beari ng on l i teracy work.

In ormation

sources

A tota of 642 respondents parti cipated in the research done through

i ntervi ews

and

workshops in the di sti cts of Dli,Li qui ca, Mal i ana, Suai , Same, Vi queque and Baucau. The

respondents age range

is

between

1

lto

80

years ol d, and

64

of

t hem

compri se women and

grls.

The i dea was to get stori es and i nformati on f romdi fferent perspecti ves and

in

both di rect and

indi rect manner . Fr omeach of the fi ve cl usters of respondents enumerated here, the research

t eami denti fi ed the body of i nsights that

i t

wanted to so ici t:

1.

Women- part i ci pants of l i teracy, w dows, women s groups, women l eaders, uni versi ty

students, pri mary and seni or secondary school students and communi t y women.

Through educati on hi story workshops, i ntervi ews and key questi on workshops, the

women wer e abl e to share their everyday l i fe, relati ons

in

the home and communi t y and

their experi ences in educati on and attendi ng l i teracy and other communi t y proj ects. They

al so tal ked about the rel evance of l i teracy

in

thei r l ife and f aml y and r ecommended ways

of desi gni ng l i teracy programs.

2.

Tradi ti onal l eaders and communi t i es

East Ti morese

are

bound together by ki nshi p and tradi ti ons.

The

tradi ti onal l eaders pl ay a

maj or rol e in the everyday li fe as sources of wi sdomand l aws of respect and di sci pl i ne.

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Through communi t y meet i ngs and i nterviews, the research documented when possi bl e,

the stori es, l aws, myt hs and tradi tional percepti ons that have hi stori cal l y and currentl y

i nformed the women s and gi rl s f ormati on, how the men s and the women s rol es have

been constructed through tradi ti ons and how these affect women saccess to educati on.

A

Ti morese sense of i denti ty and bel ongi ngness

i s

def i ned by l anguage and

the

f aml y s

sacred house, among others.

The

research teamtal ked wth a f ew tradi ti onal l eaders

f romdi fferent sacred houses and ethno-l i ngui sti c groups. Despi te the respondents intia

apprehensi on in tal ki ng

wth the

research t eam

t

was abl e to have communi t y meet i ngs

and

i ntervi ews

w th the tradi ti onal l eaders f rom

the

fol l owng d stricts:

Li qui ca Tokodede

Suai - Kamnasan and Bunak

Mal i ana - Kemak and Bunak

Same - Mambai

Vi queque

-

Makasae, Naut i and TetunTeri k

Baucau

-

Wai mua and Makasae

3. Men, seni or secondary and pri mary school students, and teachers

Acr oss di fferent gender and age groups, the research l ooked at the percepti ons regardi ng

gender and educati on. Thr ough thei r parti cipati on in

the

f ocus- group di scussions,

workshops, games and i ntervi ews, the groups gave i nsights on the social i zati on of gender

among pri mary students 1

1

13 years od), seni or secondary students

1

6-20years od),

teachers (30-

40

years old) and singl e and marri ed men (20-60).

4.

Dstri ct admni strators, chef de suco,and educati on officials

The

research l ooked i nto

the

pol i cies and interventi ons of government for devel opi ng the

capaciti es of women, thei r percepti ons about the non-parti ci pati on of women and

the

chal l enges for advocacy for women s empower ment .

5.

Communi t y faci l i tators,NGOs, nd agenci es doi ng l i teracy wor k

Li teracy provi ders f rom

NGOs,

UNICEF and the government al ong wth the communi t y

faci l i tators tal ked about ther l i teracy f rameworks, pol i cies, approaches and pedagogy.

They gave thei r observati ons on women s parti cipati on, commentari es about gender and

l i teracy and recommendat i ons for enri chi ng

the

l i teracy wor k targeti ng women.

Dynamics and Limits

The research rel i ed mai nl y on researches done in Ti mor si nce 1999, such as the strategy

papers produced by the fundi ng partners and b lateral agenci es. The bui l di ng bl ocks to th s

research are the qual i tati ve researches by i nternati onal NGOs about women on di fferent

themes such as governance, usti ce, permacul ture, eadershi p,and deci si on- maki ng.

Most of the encounters wth women, tradi ti onal l eaders and other key i nf ormants wer e done

for the

first

tim, and mai nl y through storytel l i ng, workshops and i ntervi ews.

Thi s

i s a

l i mtati on of

the

research, as understandi ng cul ture takes a much l onger

tim

and coul d have

10


10/54

i nvol ved other f orms of i nteracti on

wth

communi t i es. Thi s research, therefore, is an intia

attempt at a cul tural understandi ng of the contexts for women s i teracy.

In the workshops, some women or men had parti cipated mor e acti vel y than the others

in

thei r

group. Thi s dynamcs was i nf ormed by the parti ci pants age, status

in

l i fe or exposure to

communi t y acti vi ti es. To remedy th s si tuati on, the workshops wer e desi gned to al l ow

parti cipants to i ndi vi dual l y gi ve thei r stori es and vi ews. Thi s proved useful in many cases but

al so d fficu t at t i mes si nce a f ew women wer e embarrassed to gi ve thei r opi ni ons.

Most i ntervi ews/ workshops were done

in

Engl i sh and translated to Tet umand vi ce-versa.

Makasae, on the other hand, was used

in

Vi queque and Baucau. The t eamrevi ewed the

questi ons and thei r translati ons f r omti me to t i me, especial l y duri ng the earl y weeks

of

the

f i el dwork to enabl e cl earer and mor e cul ture-sensi ti ve questi ons for data gatheri ng. Al most

al i nterviews, di scussions and workshops were audi o taped and wer e transcri bed f i -om

Tet udMakasae to Engl i sh.

T wo i nterpretati ons faci l i tated the data gatheri ng of th s research. One was f r oma woman

consul tant who rel i ed on her experi ences on popul ar educati on

in

the Phi l i ppi nes and

appreciati on of di scourses on gender and cul tural anal ysi s. The other was medi ated through a

Ti morese man s translati on. Hi s translati on and faci l i tati on in Tet umhave medi ated the

questi ons and responsesto questi ons, and therefore the meani ngs and stori es entrusted by the

respondents. As most i nterviews and workshops were open- ended and deepeni ng rel i ed on

the f l owof conversati on, ol l ow- up questi ons t ook thei r cue f r omth s translati on.

The Oxf am- GB Educati on Pr ogr amme Coordi nator provi ded much hel p and inputs in the

research desi gn and anal ysi s whi l e member s of the educati on t eamassisted in organi zi ng and

faci l i tati ng workshops.

REVIEW

OF

LITERATURE

The Case or Culture,Women and Education

D fferent researches done

in2003

emphasi zed the case for l ooki ng at women s parti cipati on

f romthe perspecti ve of Ti mor s soci al and cul tural real i ti es. These hi ghl i ghted constrai nts

and opportuni ti es for women s parti cipati on, for exampl e, in agri cul ture, communi t y

l eadershi p or j usti ce systemas embedded

in

the strong communi t y and f aml y tradi ti ons

in

East Ti mor. Many of the studi es cal l ed for the cri ti ca rol e of educati on to enabl e the women

to partake of devel opment and democrati zati on. However , there has yet to be a research on

the real i ti es of women s f ormati on and possi bi l i ti es for l earni ng gi ven the patri archy

in

the

country.

In September

2003,A

Review

of UNICEF

upported W om e n sLiteracy Project

in

East Timor

was done by Dr. Roshan Chi trakar. The UNI CEF s Women s Li teracy Proj ect i s a oi nt effort

wth

the D vi si on

of

Non- f ormal Educat i on l aunched

in

August 2002

wth

an intia

158

11


11/54

groups in ei ght d stricts7. Dr.Chi trakar revi ewed the i mpact of these intia l i teracy cl asses on

women w th f ocus on the concept , strategy, methods and i mpl ementati on of the proj ect. H e

observed that the parti cipati on in and compl et i on of l i teracy programhas not changed

peopl e s practi ces of l i teracy let al one a change in thei r l i vel i hoods. The graduates have not

f oundthe l i teracy sklls l earnt useful for their practi cal day- to-daywork.

Chi trakar posed the need to have a mor e cul ture-sensi ti ve i teracy programon several counts.

Three

poi nts are of parti cular interest-l i teracy in the soci o-economc contexts of

the

peopl e,

the

l anguage i ssue, and l i teracy across t hemes.

On the l anguage,Chi trakar rei terated the proven effecti veness of l earni ng in tia ly through the

first

l anguage.He supported the advocacy for

the

use of the mother tongue in l i teracy cl asses

and therefore the need to produce manual s and readi ng materi al s usi ng the vari ed local

l anguages in Ti mor . Hs argument was that

the

promoti on of l i teracy in a country depends to

a l arge extent upon how peopl e exerci se their l anguage ri ghts. Chi trakar ended his revi ewby

r ecommendi ng that l i teracy programs shoul d cut across t hemes. Hs chal l enge was rather

than i mpl ement i ng an excl usi ve l i teracy proj ect, bui l di ng on exi sti ng or on- goi ng

devel opment efforts in areas such as heal th, governance, natural resource management ,

mothers cl ub or women smcro credi t contri butes to yi el di ng mor e signi fi cant i mpacts.

Chi trakar s cri ti que and recommendat i ons tackl ed the l ow parti ci pati on of women f romthe

poi nt of vi ew of l i teracy programi mpl ementat i on.

The

chal l enge is to further pursue

hs

questi ons in

the

speci fi c contexts of women. Ho w mperati ve

is

the use of themother tongue

to women compared to men? Ho w do women l earn the ablities of readi ng, wi ti ng, and

numer acy

in

l i teracy across t hemes? What are the soci o-economc si tuati ons of women

compar ed to

men

that make the contextual i zati on of l i teracy or any adul t educati on urgent for

women? Frei re, in h s book The Politics o Education emphasi zed, Readi ng al ways

i nvol ves cri ti ca percepti on, i nterpretati on and

rewriting

of what

i s

read. Fol l ow ng

ths

f ramewor k, he questi ons on women and l i teracy become imperati ve.

Researches that engaged the socio-cul tural and pol i ti cal contexts of Ti morese women proved

useful for a broader understandi ng of women s parti cipati on.

The

I nternati onal Rescue

Commt tee s Traditional Justice and Gender Based Violence gave vi vi d accounts on how

and why a woman fi nds i t dfficu t to confront domest i c vi ol ence. Inits f i ndi ngs, the research

sai d that

A

woman who presents a compl ai nt of vi ol ence to a l ocal j usti ce heari ng cannot be

guaranteed that j usti ce n the true sense of the wor d wll be del i vered. Women havemnimal

and often superfi cial parti cipati on in j usti ce heari ngs and fi nd that the rul i ngs that are passed

are often based on admni strators justi ces o wn bi ases and cul tural bel iefs regardi ng women s

status

in

society. Thi s real i ty

in

the tradi ti onal syst emtherefore,mor e often than not dri ves

a woman to conf ormto the w shes of her husband and h s faml y and to limt

her

rol e wthi n

the househol d. Ho w the threat of domesti c vi ol ence and bi ases agai nst women of the

tradi tional j usti ce system affect the women s parti ci pati on in l i teracy

i s

al so worth

i nvesti gati ng.

Review of

UNICEF

Supported Womens Literacy Project in East Timor,Dr oshan Chitrakar, September

2003

Paulo Freire was a radical educator who worked with many post-independence countries and theorized on

popular education and culture. His framework on reading the word and the world was

his

very important

contribution.

This

was the framework that inspired the literacy work

of

the resistance in East Timor in

1975.

12


12/54

Oxf am CAA2003research on

Underlying Cuuses o

Gender

Inequaliq in Cova Lima,

Timor

Leste

gathered insights f r oma si x- week parti cipatory research in al seven sub-di stri cts of

Cova Li ma. The research i denti fi ed the constrai nts to women s access to economc

opportuni ti es.

It

pl aces much pr em umon

the

Ti morese women s own percepti ons

on

i ssues

conf ronti ng t hemsuch as domesti c vi ol ence, reproducti ve heal th,

risk

probl ems and deci si on-

maki ng, and l eadershi p in the communi t y. I nteresti ngl y,

t

posed that women do not vi ew

reproducti on and

barlake

or bri de pri ce as risk situati ons for t hem t al so sai d the percepti on

of poverty is not di rectl y rel ated wth the amount of assets one has, but w th the characteri sti cs

of the hamet in t er ms of ki nshi p rel ati ons. The concl usi ons that poverty reducti on shoul d

f ocus not onl y on

poor individuals

but on

supportgroups

and economc opportuni ti es for

women shoul d begi n w th acti vi ti es women are al ready al l owed to do were i nsights that

i nf ormed

ths

research.

The Oxf am- CAA esearch rei teratedthe ca l for a cul tural approach to women s parti cipati on.

It comment ed that di scussi ons wth women s groups, other communi t y servi ce organi zati ons

(CSOs)

nd government conti nual l y identi fy that a number of i nequal i ti es

exist

for women,

yet

there has been l ittle debate of anal ysi s i nto the underl yi ng causes of gender i nequal i ty and

thus possi bl e strategi es to promot e equi ty f r omthe grassroots to the nati onal l evel .

In

addi ti on, there has been l ittle di scussi on on the East Ti morese perspecti ve, val ues and bel i efs

rel ati ng to gender i nequal i ty and processes that reproduce gender i nequal i ti es.

Thi s

research

on Women and Educat i on takes

its

cue f romths i nsi ght.

Constructionof Gender Relations

Anal ysi s f rameworks for engagi ng gender i ssues abound. The f rameworks parti cul arl y useful

for educati on

wer e

captured by Fi ona Leach

in

her book

Practising Gender Analysis in

Education.

Accordi ng to Leach gender rel ati ons refers to interacti on and social rel ati onshi ps between

women and men, both

in

the pri vate and publ i c arena. Gender rel ati ons can i nvol ve

cooperati on or confl i ct, trust or suspi ci on, partnershi ps and compet i t i on, l ove or hate,

tenderness or viol ence, and compl ex combi nat i ons among

them

Gender rel ati ons

are

i nf l uenced by other markers of soci al i denti ty such

as

cl ass, race, ethni ci ty, rel i gi on and age.

Further, gender anal ysis i nvol ves examni ng rel ati onshi ps between women and men, and the

i nequal i ti es and power di f ferences between t hem in a systemati c way.

The

ai mof gender

anal ysi s

i s to

unpack the hi erarchi cal nature of gender rel ati ons as part of a broader social

anal ysi s, to determne what changes are requi red if mor e equi tabl e rel ati onshi ps are to resul t

and ul ti matel y to promote a mor e equal soci ety.

Of the many f rameworks

in

Leach s book, the Social Rel ati ons Approach devel oped by

Nai l a Kabeer proved most useful for th s research. Kabeer anal yzed gender i nequal i ti es by

i nvesti gati ng

the

i nsti tuti onal rel ati ons bet ween State, market , communi t y and f aml y or

ki nshi p. I n descri bi ng Kabeer s f r amework, Leach sai d that Nai l a Kabeer uses the

term

Published by Oxfam-GB n

2003,

he book was described by the author as a taster of analytical tools that can

Ibid. . 33. Kabeer developed the approach

in

the early

1990s

at the Institute of Development Studies

(IDS),

be used

for

gender audit

of

education institutions.

University

of

Sussex.

10

Obsiac1c.s io

Lhc

Effiictic Piliticipaiioii of Woineii in AiluIl P


13/54

social rel ati ons to descri be the structural rel ati onshi ps that create and reproduce systemati c

di fferences in the posi ti oni ng of groups of peopl e. Such rel ati onshi ps largel y determne our

identi ty, what rol es and responsibi l i ti es are, and what cl ai m

we

can

make. They determne

our ri ghts and the control that we have over our own l i ves and those of others. Soci al

rel ati ons produce i nequal i ti es,whi ch ascri be to each i ndi vi dual a posi ti on

in

the structure and

hi erarchy of thei r society.

I n Ti mor ,

the

f aml y and cl ans and the communi t y power structures def i ne the social fabri c

whereby women and men def i ne and negoti ate meani ngs and rel ati onshi ps in the r l i ves. Fr om

these insti tuti ons emanate the tradi ti ons that have kept Ti morese together throughout the

col oni al peri od, resi stance, f amne and other hardshi ps. Ospi na and Hohe s study on the

Tradi ti onal Power Structures and the Communi t y Empower ment and Local Governance

Proj ect provi des an i n- depth ook into the l ocal power structures. Acore usual l y i nhabi ts

a

singl e house. It consists of a marr i ed coupl e and the r unmarri ed chi l dren. The core faml y

never exi sts by itself; i t

i s

usual l y bound

in

a whol e uni verse of social rel ati onshi ps. Thei r

closest relati ves are member s

of

their l i neage.

A

l i neage consi sts of peopl e that are rel ated

to each other

in

a uni l ateral way. Thi s means either through the father s

(patri l i neal )

or

through the mother s (matri l i neal ) side.

In

a patri l ineal syst em al rel ati ves fi -omhis f athers

side (e.g. hs father s brothers, fathers father or h s own brother) are h s close rel ati ves and

they are al percei ved as bei ng connected through thesame bl ood. The same structure is

appl i ed

in

a

matri l i neal

system w th the di f ference bei ng that the rel ati ves here are reckoned

onl y through the mother s side. East Ti morese societi es

are

mai nl y patri l i neal w th some

excepti ons.

In such

syst ems,

al member s of the l i neage refer to a common ancestor. Thi s group of

peopl e f orms the descentgroup

(uma ain/ahimatan).

Oneor mor e descent groups can refer

to a sacred house. One s sacred house i s one s denti ty. Aperson who does not know the

name of hi sher sacred house

is

not Ti m~r ese ~. hi s

is

a vi ew

still

hel d dearl y by the

chi l dren and both ol d and young men and women. The sacred house is one s beari ng, one s

ancestral l i neage, and therefore, one s denti ty.

14

C L

J ose Gonzaga, in his unpubl i shed thesis16 establ i shed the central i ty of the sacred house and

the ancestors for the Ti morese by l ooki ng at

barara,

a sacred prayer expressed

in

tradi tional

cer emony for bui l di ng the sacred house. Every

barara

has tradi tional

el ements

whi ch are

rel ated to the ancestor of

clan

in the anci ent t i me. There is a category of l i nes on hi stori es and

geneal ogi es that recount ori gi ns. There are l i nes that recount hi stori es and myt hs of ori gi n.

They are like the ori gi n of the Kabi tareno, the styl e accounts of the wander i ng of the clan of

Lari bere - samasul a. H stori cal l y every clan

in

the Al awa vi l l age f romkabi tareo cl an, then

they

are

such as Duani ko, A afatari a, Kabi tana, and Kabureno Kabu

oso.

The most substanti al

in the ri tua l anguageis the cl an hi story. (Gonzaga)

r.

Thi s bel i ef in the ancestors

i s

not onl y ceremoni al but exi sts in the everyday life of the

Ti morese. Gonzaga hi ghl i ghted the signi f i cance and functi on of the barara for the Makasae

Leach, age

87

l2

Ospina and Hohe, September 2001, . 16.

l 3

Ospina and Hohe gave the Bunaq

in

Bobonaro Distrrict as an example. In the course of

his

Oxfam-GB

research, the team talkedwith the matrilineal clans

of

Kamnasan in Suai and Bunak in Maliana.

l4 Ibid.

l6

Written in

2002

and presented in

2003

for a diploma in

AB

English, Gonzagas thesis got a high mark.

14

conversations with a woman and man working in the

NGO

and with many traditional leaders, M a y

2004


14/54

communi t y of the Kabi tareno cl an. Through the prayer,

t

i s sai d that rel ati onshi ps and peace

are mai ntai ned through the intercession of the ancestors who protect the cl an f romdanger.

The clan bel i eves in the worl d after death and that the ancestors al ways see what thei r

atti tudes are.

Further, Gonzaga observed that al though the communi t y has Cathol i c bel i efs, the peopl e still

bel i eve in thei r ancestors. For i nstance, i f they have a sick rel ati ve

or

someone died

mysteri ousl y, hey

wll

conduct a ritua or cer emony such as tu baru

-

asa

iti.

The ai mof ths

ceremony i s to know the cause of the si ckness or death.

The sacred house al so symbol i zes strong tradi ti ons that unti l now keep faml i es

in

a cl an

together. These tradi ti ons i ncl ude sitting together to di scuss marri ages between faml i es,

medi ati on of probl ems by the katuas adat, storytel l i ng about the l aws of respect in the cl an,

harvest cel ebrati ons, etc. In al these tradi ti ons, men pl ay the key rol es and are the deci si on-

maker s

and hol ders of the l aw It is therefore i mportant to see how these communi t y

tradi ti ons i nf ormwomen s rol es, demeanor and acti on.

In both patri l i neal and matri l i neal faml i es, the rel ati onshi ps are patri archal in nature. The

formati on of sons and daughters and rel ati onshi ps between husband and w f e and deci si on-

maki ng in the communi t y between men and women are l i nked to M chel Foucaul t s

contenti on on patri archy wher e the dialecti c of the faml y assumes that the man natural l y

hol ds power.

It

was al so useful to use as one f r amewor k Foucaul t s noti on on the power

of

di sci pl i nary practi ces that tend to control the body and ho w th s is perpetuated by an

i ndi vi dual s internal i zed oppressi on. Control l i ng the grls and al so the need for a marri ed

woman to control hersel f cropped up in many i nstances duri ng the research. What these

control s are and how grls and women negoti ate and al so gi ve consent to t hemis an area

studi ed inthe research.

Lastl y,

barlake

negoti ated duri ng marri age arrangements has been a bone of contenti on when

di scussing the pl i ght of Ti morese women. The barlake and how

i t

i mpi nges on a woman s

sel f -wort h, ol e and subordi nat i on has been contested in di fferent ways by both men and

women of Ti mor.

It

was useful to relate barlake to Fri edri ch Ni et ~sche s ~nsights on how

rel ati onshi ps, whi ch are cul tural in nature, are f ormed between parti es.

In

hi s Genealogy of

Mords,he wrote that the feel i ng of gu l t, of personal obl i gati on, had its ori gi n, as we saw, n

the ol dest and most pri mti ve personal rel ati onshi p, that bet ween buyer and sel ler, credi tor and

debtor: i t was here that one person fi rst encountered another person, that one person f irst

measured himself

agai nst another. No grade of ci vi l i zati on.. has yet been di scovered in

whi ch somethi ng of th s rel ati onshi p has not been noti ceabl e. Setti ng the pri ces, determni ng

val ues, contri vi ng equi val ences, exchangi ng- - - these preoccupi ed the earl iest thi nking of man

to

so

great an extent that

in

a certain sense they consti tute thi nking

as

such:

here

i t

was that

the ol dest ki nd of astuteness devel oped; here l i kewse, we may suppose, di d human pri de, the

feel i ng of superi ori ty in rel ati on to other ani mal s have its fi rst begi nni ngs.

Throughout the resi stance, Ti morese women acti vi sts protested vehement l y agai nst the human

rights vi ol ati ons done to women duri ng the war .

In

the process, they produced numer ous

speeches, statements, appeal s and other papers that wer e presented in sol i dari ty conferences,

Geneal ogy

of

Moral s, N etzsche,

1877.

Basi c Wi t i ngs

of

N etzsche, transl ated

by

Wal ter Kauf mann, p.506

7

Obsiuclcs 0 Lhc CHccliue 13ai.ticipai.ion

f

Wciinciiin A d u l t Iducuiiciii Pi.ogimis

A

i.iy.ic1

7001-

15

/JCllS O11

~ ~ ( ~ [ : ; l ~ - ~ l ( I z / ~ ~ ~ ~

CI~~


15/54

demonst rati ons or in the negoti ati ons before the Uni ted Nati ons. After i ndependence,

agenci es and

NGOs,

n aid of thei r i nterventi ons, conducted researches about women on

di fferent themes, i .e., permacul ture, communi t y parti cipati on, heal th, domesti c vi ol ence,

tradi ti onal j usti ce, etc.

Thi s

study on the Obstacles

in the

Participation

of

Women in Adult

Education Programs: Socio-Cultural actors s yet another of those themati c researches.

RESEARCH

FINDINGS

Traditions, Myths, Metaphors: Womens Sense of Duty

One s not born, but rather

becomes,

a woman.

I

imone de Beauvoir

The stories that are bequeathed f romgenerati on to generati on,

the

practi ces that are observed

by women and men, the spoken l anguage and even the accepted ways of dressi ng are

everyday mani festati ons of how a woman shoul d be in Ti morese society. Occurri ng in the

everyday life of the f aml y and communi t y, hei r power lies

in

the seemng natural ness of the

val ues and rol es ascri bed to women. The i ntervi ews wth tradi ti onal l eaders and women

provi ded a gl i mpse of how the sel f -worth and l ocati on of women have been histori cal ly

constructed.

She was

the

sacrijice that

we

ave theocean.

Tradi ti onal l eaders refused to share wth us the stories and myt hs about the ancestors. They

sai d that these are sacred and onl y a chosen man f romthe cl an knows the hi story. Ti o

August o Pi nto gave a previ ewof a myt h in Li qui ca amd his cauti on that one cannot tel the

whol e story or el se he wll di e.

We are Asmanu peopl e and the forest bi rds (manufui k) brought us f r omAl or to put in

Asmanu. They created the sea

in

Asmanu, the hol e i s still there. Our ancestors prepared the r

sister Barkasa de Roma, gave her a dress, gave two bags, and put a morten18 around her neck.

She was the sacri fi ce for the sea, to dri ve i t away. When she col l ected the sea, she was

marri edwth the sea and di sappeared.

The myt h hi ghl i ghted a woman s sense of duty to save her cl an f romdi saster and ensure the

conti nuati on of ts l i neage.Thi s sense of duty repeats i tse f in another

myt h

in Baucau.

You

are my shovel and

my

bag.

You

come to plant my land and you are my wealth,my

property.

- -

Ti o August o, Tokodede,Li qui ca

A

baby grl

i s

al ways wel comed wth j oy in the Ti morese househol d; a f aml y that has mor e

grls than boys meant a bounti ful future. Fr om the t i me of the ancestors unti l the

70s,

marri ages wer e al ready arranged between cousi ns, as earl y as when a woman is pregnant or

when a baby was born. Ti o August o conti nued In our t i me, when a baby was born and her

aunt vi si ted, she d ask whether i t was a grl or a boy.

I f

i t were a grl , t hen she d say you are

my shovel and mybag, n the future, you come to pl ant my and and bri ng me weal th.

l

Timorese necklace made

out of

stone,

usually orange in color.

16


16/54

The meani ng of

the

baby grl as weal th is often associated w th the val ue of ferti l i ty.

It

i s

not percei ved that thewoman,

as

an i ndi vi dual person, s passed on to another f aml y, but that

the value of fertility

i s

suppl i ed to one s Wfe Taker. I n

the

Wfe Taker f aml y, the new

woman produces new life agai n in her chi l dren and

ths

new life

is

then passed on to ones

own

Wfe Taker.

The bundl e of oy, the baby grl,

was

therefore bound to a duty. Ti o August o further narrated:

Ater

her marri age had been arranged to a cousi n, the aunt

was

to gi ve

a

buffal o or t wo as

intia barlake to the babys faml y. The f aml y then had to care for her unti l she s old enough

to marry.

She had to stay

at

home and l earn the househol d duti es. She cannot go to school

nor pl ay outsi de and the parents had to control her. She had been betrothed for marri age.

The daughter coul d not possi bl y renege on ths arranged marri age. I f she wer e not to marry

her cousi n,

her

faml y had to pay back

the

barlake and worse, she had brought shame to her

f aml y.To Augusto puts ths vi vi dl y: Duri ng

the

Portuguese t i me, even if shedoes not want

to get marri ed to the man, I a mthe father,

I

have to beat her so for i nstance,

l ike

when the

uncl e and aunt are by the door, even if

she

doesn t want to get marr i ed w th the man, and she

can run away to the Jakarta, but her mother and father cannot

let

her l eavebecause her parents

have the obl i gati on to her uncl e and aunt. So when her aunt and uncl e come, as parents we

have an obl i gati on to gi veour daughter.

What i s signi fi cant about

th s

arranged marri age in the past and the story about barkasa

i s

how sel f-sacri f i ceand sense of duty have repeatedl y been expected f romthe Ti morese woman

since b rth. Obedi ence to the f aml y, the gu lt of bri ngi ng

shame

to the f aml y and doi ng

househol d chores

are

l earned early

in

l ife. These val ues and nor ms are further rei nforced in

marri ed

l ife.

Once marri ed, i t i s a woman s duty to conti nue the f l owof l i fe between f aml i es. Thi s

is

captured in a myt h f rom

Vemasse2

that

emphasi zed the central i ty of

a

woman s fertil ity in

establ i shi ng and maintaini ng

the

l i neage

My ancestors stem from Larantuka and I am not Lord of the Land here;

I

became liurai

through an oath.My ancestors came to Timor. There were three people; one went to

Vemasse, ne to Los Palos, ne to Lifao. They came or trading and then took the water rom

the well in Vemasse. After they met

with

the

liurai

there, the people from Larantuka were

invited to his house because theliurai saw thatthese people were literate. H e roke the boat

thatwassent from the liuraiof Larantuka. Then he

saw

that these people were not married

yet,

so

the ancestor brought one woman or marriage. That woman stemmed rom the Lor

family. They had no descendants and the woman died.

They brought another woman rom

Lor

and she also died. Then they brought the child

of

the

liurai Luka

Viqueque. Afer

marrying

with

the child

of liurai Luka

they had descendants. Because of that,the lord

of

the

land started approaching the liurai from Larantuka, ifyou already have taken women rom

l9 Ospina and H ohe are here refemng to the Wife Giver being associated

with

the value of fertility. The Wife

Giver refers to the family of the bride and the Wife Taker to the family of the groom. For the vivid and detailed

account on

this

Wife Giver and Wife Taker relationship, lease refer to the study.

2o

This myth was documented by Ospina and Hohe to illustrate the division of political and ritual authority. W e

now use this myth to illustrate the centrality of a womans eproduction to the families.

17

bsi acl ts

io

the

LilFctivc

Paiticip ion of \Voi~icii ii

, A c l i J l ~

ducaiioii

I+ogi.ai.iis

F ~ J c L ~ , ~JI/

, ~ / ~ ~ : i / J ~ l [ i t / ~ j - ~ i l

ac,li)t:r

A iI~lJS12004


17/54

here and I a m the liurai here, but I do not know how to

write

and to read,I hand over to

you.

After

he hadpassed his power to him, hey conducted an oathfor the Lord of the Land.

Thi s myt h shows why i t i s i mportant for women

to

have many chi l dren and why a woman

who cannot gi ve brth

is

l ooked down upon in Ti mor . Thi s duty of the woman to conti nue the

f l ow of l i fe may expl ai n why most women, as stated

in

the Oxf am OCAA21 esearch did

not vi ew reproducti on as a risk and on the contrary, not havi ng an offspri ng poses a bi g

probl em

Barlake: Ties that Bind Women

Blood oaths and marriage are the most crucial oints in uniting people.

Tradi ti onal l eaders say that nowadays, mor e than 50 of coupl es

marry

for l ovez3.Despi te

th s change f romarranged marri ages between cousi ns, the barlake i s still observed in many

dstricts. In Baucau, Vi queque and Same, he tradi ti onal l eaders said

barlake s

not the pri ce

of the woman for marri age but is actual l y gi ving val ue to

the

woman. The hi gher the

barlake,

herefore, the hi gher i s her val ue in rel ati on to the man.

Conversel y, s ome say the

barlake is the payment for the faml y, for havi ng rai sed the daughter to become a proper and

duti ful woman for the husband- to-be.

Barlake s not onl y between the woman and the man to be marri ed. Katuas Ci pri ano Neto of

Makasae, Baucau sai d that

the

barlake came f romour ancestors and we conti nue it .

If you

gi ve barlake,we cal i t t omata- omaraha, omata refers to therelatives of theman s aml y and

omar aha refers to the woman s rel ati ves. I f you don t bri ng the barlake, hen we cannot say

t omata- omaraha. f you likemy daughter, you have to gi veme barlake and then you can take

my daughter andthenwe are t omata-omaraha.

Thi s exchange of goods between the Wf e G ver and the Wf e Taker24s sai d to be the most

i mportant act in a marri age. The el ders of the Wf e Taker and Wf e G ver

sit

together to

di scuss what amounts of goods have to be exchanged for the marri age. Thi s

i s

a very

i mportant task of the el ders. They are the onl y ones to knowa l the kinship rel ati ons and the

hi erarchy of the Houses and therefore know

the

appropri ate amount of goods to be exchanged.

The marri age partners are not of bi g i mportance here.

It

i s of mor e i mportance what the Wfe

Taker and the Wf e G ver groups have to bri ng.

Women acti vists consi der

barlake as

the root of domesti c vi ol ence. Many respondents said

that i t was usual to hear a

man

say that when

he

beats up hs w fe, he

is

j ust beati ng up hs

barlake.

But

many, however , countered that th s vi ol ence happens

in

the home not because of

barlake

but because of the man s i ndi vi dual characteri sti cs. I n the first pl ace, they sai d, the

barlake

gi ven to hi s wfe s f aml y

was not

f romhi mbut f romh s parents rel ati ves. A the

same t i me, even in cl ans wher e barlake

i s

not observed, the men still

ht

the women.

The

Kamnasan (Sua), Bunak(Suai and Mal i ana) and Tetun Teri k (V queque), the faml i es do not

21 Underlying Causes of Gender Inequity

in

Covalima, Timor Leste,

2003

22

Ospina and Hohe,

p.19.

23

This estimate was consistent with all the traditional leaders that the research team talked with. They said that

mostly families

in

the villages still arrange marriages. But nowadays, families allow women and m en (or girls

and boys) to choose w h o m they want to marry, otherwise therewill be a problem in the family or someone will

get sick.

24

Ospina and Hohe,p.

22

18


18/54

observe

barlake

but has ' boa ho mal us' (betel nut) to establ i sh faml i es

ti esz5. Barlake,

even

the menti on of the termduri ng marri age di scussi ons, is consi dered an insul t to the f aml i es

and the ancestors of these clans.

Faml i es

of

the

bri de and gr oom

sit

together and share ' boa

ho mal us' to di scuss the marri age and rel ati onshi p between faml i es. In

these

matri l i neal

faml i es, the women stay wth the faml y and the communi t y after marri age. The men of

Kamnasan and Bunak, on the other hand, once marri ed, have to l eave their faml i es.

Thi s

arrangement

i s rel ated

to l and ownershi p by the women, for in these cl ans, the l and has been

owned by women f romgenerati on

to

generati on.

Through

barlake

or

boa ho malus, a

marri age becomes mor e than

a

uni on bet ween man and

wfe

but mor e i mport antl y

a

uni on between faml i es.

The marri ed

coupl es are expected to

hel p

each

other's

f aml i es

in

t i mes

of probl ems. Such an arrangement puts ever mor e pressure

for the woman who

i s

expected to obey and fol l ow

her

husband at al t i mes.

What was clear in

the

workshops was that both men and women vi ew

barlake

as a symbol of

subordi nati on of

a

woman to her husband and to her husband' s faml y. The

barlake

does not

onl y prej udi ce the woman social l y, accordi ng to

the

women studyi ng in the uni versi tyz6,

t

also

limts

the chi l dren' s

access

to

f ormal educati on. The respondents sai d

that

thei r parents

compl ai ned that they had no money to send both boys and g rls to hi gher educati on.

However , they observed that they have money to gi ve to

barlake

or contri bute buf fal oes or

tradi ti onal offeri ngs to a faml y of a relati ve who di ed.27 Contri buti ng to the exchange of

goods between

faml i es

also l eaves the women wth l i mted budget for f ood and heal th care,

to the detri ment of the nutri ti on and

heal th

of the chi l dren.

Control, Roles, Relations: Woman's Formation

It

was

the hospitality of

the

girls and women that greeted us in many of the houses that we

visited during the interviews. Almost automatically, irl

or

a woman

will

set

the

small

table

with

a knitted tablecloth. Later,

she

enters witha tray

of

hot tea

or allof us

to drink.

Feto uma aran deit

(Women

should only be inside thehouse) - Mobility and Access

to information

The house is the domai ns of the woman- t o cook, cl ean, wash the clothes,

take

care of the

chi l dren,

etc.

The man goes out of the house to earn

a

l i vi ng and provi de for

the

needs of the

faml y. Thi s di vi sion of l abor i n the house has ramfi cati ons for the woman' s mobi l i ty, as

women are expected to stay

at

home most of the

tim.

Normal l y, she onl y goes out

at

l unch

to bri ng f ood to her husband in the fi eld, then goes back home to feed the ani mal s and cook

di nner.

She

may

go out to buy thi ngs

in

the market or to attend mass in the church, but

she

has

to

return

to the house i mmedi atel y because

she

has to take

care

of the chi l dren.

Earl y on, the grls

are

brought up in the samemol d. The rul es restri cti ng mobi l i ty wer e argued

out

as

necessary to ensure the grls' safety. After school , grls are expected to go home

25

There are many nuances in the tradi ti ons, cust oms and l and ownershi p in these matri l i neal faml i es.

Based on the l i fe stones and group di scussi ons

in

the uni versi ti es

in Dli

and Baucau, Apri l - May2004

Read Zul mra' s account in page24.

Obsaclcs i.hc f'f'ccti.i.c i~i.iicipiiiori r Uolieii in

A d i i 1 1

I3lucuiioil Piugi,rinici

I,Ci/.S on

~ ~ J ~ : i / ~ ~ . ~ 2 ~ l l l ~ ~ l l

:oclot:Y

A

i.igllsi

2004

26

27

19


19/54

i mmedi atel y and hel p in the househol d chores, to study and l earn how to sew. They are not

al l owed to walk alone at ni ght. Those who stay outsi de the home beyond 7:OO n the eveni ng

are consi dered bad grls or women. To renounce ths norm of control may compromse a grl

or woman s mage in the communi t y, and her faml y s i mage as wel. Whi l e boys and men

spend mor e of thei r l ei sure

t i me

outsi de of the house, the women and g rls spend l ess tim

outsi de

the

home.

There

are also

limts

to the ki nd of l eisure

that

a

woman can do.

Gossi pi ng, and pl ayi ng cards (especial l y w th men) are consi dered bad.

Li mted mobi l i ty of the women outsi de the home means f ewer i nteracti ons wth other peopl e,

and

therefore

l ess acqui si ti on of i nterpersonal sklls and other

life

skills. One i mpact of thi s

l i mted mobi l i ty

is the

i nabi l i ty

of

women to l earn

a

second l anguage. t was observed that in

areas

wher e Tet umis not the mother tongue, men wer e abl e to speak Tet ummor e than the

women because of thei r transacti ons i n Dli and in other centers. Meanwhi l e,

the

woman s

access to i nformati on comes mai nl y f rom her husband and fri ends in the i mmedi ate

communi t y.

Democr acy has i nsti tuted many opportuni ti es for

the

woman to devel op hersel f and

parti ci pate outsi de the home. However , there

are

vi ews that

the

tradi tional arrangements

between husband and wfe, when di sturbed may threaten the stab l i ty of the home. I n some

i nstances, when

the

woman goes out of the house the husband

starts

questi oni ng the

wfe

about her whereabouts and acti vi ties.

Some women said that thei r husbands wer ej eal ous when they go out and worri ed about them

havi ng an affai r. But the men di sagreed

wth

ths percepti on, saying that that men coul d not

be j eal ous si nce in a communi t y, everybody knows who

i s marri ed

to whom and everybody

respects

that.

What i s cl ear, though,

is that

in each faml y, dependi ng on the rel ati onshi p

between husband and wfe, there

is

a negoti ati on goi ng on the amount of space and tim for

the

women to go out of the house. In the process, a contestati on of

the

noti on feto uma

l aran

dei t.

4

Feto rona deit, mane poder barak liu ( W o m an should only listen, m a n has more

power)

- - -

Analysis and Decision-Making

The i nterdependence between husband and wfe

was

overwhel mngl y accepted

in

al the

i ntervi ewsand workshops that wehad conducted in al six dstricts. The stab li ty of the faml y

is

of utmost concern. Such stab l i ty

i s

mai ntai ned where

the

wfe i s subordi nate to the

husband who

is the

chi ef of

the

house. Women can deci de i n the house when i t comes to

f ood, buyi ng clothes for the chi l dren or sel l ing chi cken.

As for

the educati on of the chi l dren,

both husband and

wfe

deci de on ths

in

consi derati on of

the

avai lab l i ty

of

money.

The

woman also deci des on how many tais (trad ti onal fabri c) the faml y

wll

bri ng when hel pi ng

a

relati ve.

When aparent

di es,

most

of

the

tim,

he daughters

are

the ones who

take

care of the funeral

expenses in the f ormof money, buf fal oes or pi gs. Whi l e there i s recogni ti on of

the

ab l i ty of

the women to provi de, the men, usual l y

the

el der one i s to deci de how muc h each woman

has

to gi ve, whi l e

the

men are not obl i gated to gi ve as much.

As

chi ef of the faml y, the man

is

the key deci si on- maker. In three i ntervi ews, t was said that

Even if he

is

deaf and mute, he i s still the chi ef of the house. Men are the ones who resol ve

the

bi gger probl ems or deci si on- maki ng in the faml y and most

of

the

tim,

women

are

20


20/54

expected to l i sten to the man and fol l owh s deci si ons. A woman becomes the mai n deci si on-

maker onl y when her husband di es.

Women are supposed to l i sten to the r husbands. When there is a probl em the man has to

thi nk of ways to resol ve

the

probl emand the woman has to fol l ow t was usual to hear that

when

the

woman

taks

too much, she gets

the

i re

of the husband and at t i mes gets

the

beati ng

that she deserves. Whi l e the

man

still speaks, the woman comes to cut h s speech, so he

gets angry. We are not angry, but we say that

we

are still di scussi ng and you are cutti ng our

di scussi on. W h o s goi ng to l i sten? So whenwe are f i ni shed, you can talk and we can listen

to each other. 28

The l i mted space provi ded for women to speak out thei r i deas in the home and the threat of

puni shment f r omthe husband because she tal ks too muc h did not encourage the women s

capaci ty to thi nk and anal yze probl ems for hersel f and the f aml y and therefore, affected al so

her conf i dence to speak out on matters beyond that al l owed for her.

The woman s demeanor of l earni ng to control her tendency to talk a lot

is

al so l earned earl y

on in li feby the g rls. Thi s is one of the trats that

the

man s f aml y l ooks for in a future wfe.

The questi on does shetak too muc h or not

is

consi dered al ong w th does she come f roma

good cl an or not? The hi erarchy between husband and wf e

is

al so mani f ested earl y on

duri ng courtshi p or engagement peri od.

In

everyday Tet um the gi r l / womanis cal l ed by her

boyf ri end as hau n a l abari k, translated l itera ly as my chi l d. She on the other hand, refers

to her boyf ri end

as

maun or el der brother.

Popul ar sayi ngs in Ti mor portray the unequal rel ati onshi ps that di scri mnate a woman. When

the husband beats up h s wfe, peopl e say bi kan ho kanuru mak bako mal o, meani ng that

such is normal l ike plate and fork htting each other. There

i s

al so the sayi ng feto hanesan

nain, mane hanesan asu that compares a woman as meat and men as dog.

In

a tradi ti onal

medi at i on of a probl embetween husband and w f e

in

Mal i ana29, he men who

wer e

around

were quoti ng th s and said thew f e and

her

f aml y had

l ess

chances of w nni ng the case.

Cul tural di ctates that men have mor e power and that

i t i s

better for women to remai nsi lent l ed

women to endure vi ol ence

in

the home. The IRC esearch observed that women do not l ook

for j usti ce. They may r emai n si l ent, and try to cope

wth

the probl emthemsel ves. Many put

up

wth

domesti c vi ol ence for a l ong peri od unti l they reach a poi nt where they j ust cannot

take anymore.

Under i ndependent Ti mor , there was a cl amor for women s voi ce and part i cipati on.

However , there

i s

a seemng i mpati ence when women are not abl e to speak out. In one

workshop,

a

man comment ed to the women You shoul d gi ve your vi ews

so

you won t say

that

i t i s

al ways the man who speaks. Yet another remark was

we

gi ve the women the

opportuni ty to get i nvol ved but they do not want to. There

seems

to be an expectati on for the

Based on discussions

with

men in Viqueque.

The research team observed a traditional mediation where the traditional leaders sat on the chairsto mediate

the problem while the families of both the husband and wife were sitting on the mats to give their side. The

mediation lasted only for half a day. The families were not able to reach an agreement and the case was turned

over to the police and tribunal.

28

29

Obsta


21/54

woman to be automati cal l y conf i dent

in

hersel f si nce Ti mor s now under democracy. For the

educated woman who has been exposed to several i nteracti ons in l i fe, ths may not be

a

probl em But for the woman who had

l ess

mobi l i ty and depended on her husband to do the

deci si on- maki ngbased on the cul ture and where she has to l i sten, ths may take sometim.

I n most workshops done duri ng the research, even wher e the respondents were

al

women, the

parti cipants needed proddi ng f r omthe research

t eam

and the

l i teracy

faci l i tator.

In

Baucau, a

woman sai d I onl y talk once.

In

Same, three women managed to speak out am d thei r

trembl i ng voi ces.

Certai nl y, i t is not enough to get women to attend li teracy and other

acti vi ti es outsi de the home. They shoul d al so be pati entl y encouraged to art i cul ate their

vi ews, an act that

i s

a cul tural break f r omthe noti on that a woman who talks too much is no

good.

Knowledge

and

Power

in

theCommunity

and Government

During a community meeting

with

traditional leaders, women sat at the side or behind the

men.

In

one instance, a young woman who wanted to share her opinion about the traditions

of

their clan had to ask the tacit approval rom

a

traditional leader.

%is is

to show respect to

the wisdom

of

the traditional leader.

Whi l e women wer e i nfl uenti al

in

nutri ti on, reari ng of chi l dren and agri cul ture in the home,

there are mni mal spaces for women s voi ces at the communi t y and government. The

tradi ti onal usti ce systemthat is

still

very much al i ve

in

Ti mor

i s

domnat ed by men and offers

l ittle

consol ati on to women.

In the i nterviews wth tradi ti onal l eaders, they sai d that onl y men can be tradi ti onal l eaders

and th s is

true

in al of Ti mor . Even in the matri l i neal faml i es of Bunak and Kamnasan,

women, even when they o wn and deci de on the use and ownershi p of the l and, were never

appoi nted tradi ti onal l eaders. Tradi ti onal l eaders are deci si on- makers

n

the communi t y; they

make

and keep the l aws and medi ate when there are probl ems. The reconci l i ati on ensures

that the ancestors are appeased and that by cl osi ng the shame on a faml ys name there

is

no

risk

of f uture retri buti on or sancti ons f r om

the

ancestors. These processes

are

overseen by

vari ous authori ti es that act as a representati ve of the ancestors and due to their l i neage have

the

power to execute these ~er emoni es. ~ mong these, dependi ng on

the

l ocati on

is

the

Li an

Nai n who is the keeper of the word/ the owner of the words, the macai r f ukun who i s the

hol der of the l aw and the Dat o Uai n who exerci se power to

make

deci si ons in l ocal

rul i ngs.

On

the

other hand,

in

tradi ti onal ceremoni es or

in

the communi t y, he women

are

expected to

prepare food, per f ormin the dances and songs, at ti mes, hel p resol ve probl ems of women and

attend to other tasks. However , th s l i mted role took a turn duri ng the resi stance.

Tradi ti onal l y margi nal i zed, East Ti morese women f ound thei r rol es t ransf ormed by war. A

smal l mnori ty j oi ned the gueri l l as. Many mor e f ound themel ves headi ng the househol ds

duri ng day and spyi ng and carryi ng messages

at

dusk. Some women

wer e

traumati zed by the

war but to others the changes boosted their sel f -conf i dence. 32The deci si on- maki ngpowers,

however , still rested on the men. Al though

as

many women

as

men parti cipated in pro-

b

30 Nixon

and Hohe,2003,

.17.

31

Babo Soares,

2001, .3.

Both quotes were lifted

from

Swaines research on traditional justice.

32

East Timor Transition to Statehood, Catherine Scott,

CIIR

p.10

22


22/54

Freti l i n ral l i es throughout 1975, apart f rom Muki Bonaparte (the onl y woman sitting on

Freti l i ns Central Commt tee), and some school

teachers

on the Comm t t ee for Educat i on and

Cul ture,women wer e absent f romFreti l i ns l eader ~hi p. ~~

Ater i ndependence, here were a lot of efforts to i ntroduce changes in the tradi ti onal deci si on-

maki ng in the communi t y, part i cul arl y, to gi ve women the opportuni ti es to parti ci pate and

arti cu ate their concerns. n the assessment of the Wor l d Bank Communi t y Empower ment and

Local Governance Proj ect

(CEP), i t

was observed that women s parti cipati on vari ed

accordi ng to i nternal gender dynamcs, soci o-economc and educati onal background

as wel l

as age di fferences and geographi c l oc a t i on . ^^

Whi l e

women and men wer e equal l y

represented in most vi l l age counci l s,

a

requi rement

set

out by

CEP,

no woman

was

f ound

at

seni or l evel s of

the

vi l lage or sub-di stri ct counci l s.

In

vi l l age meet i ngs, the f emal e member s

tim i s

often taken up serving f ood and dri nks to i mportant parti cipants such as

the

tradi ti onal

and vi l l age member s. 35

Thi s margi nal i zati on of women f romkey posi ti ons often

t i mes was

traced to the women s

l ack of capabi l i ty or educati on.

Whi l e

ths may

be

true, ths is not the onl y reason. The

tradi ti onal noti on that women are

l ess

capabl e than men also hi nders

the

appreci ati on of

women s efforts preci sel y because of her tradi ti onal rol es in the faml y and communi t y.

In

the workshops and i nterviews, ths vi ew was very muc h preval ent. Whi l e there was an

overwhel mng acceptance that under i ndependent East Ti mor , the women can parti ci pate in

government , NGOs and in the communi t y through the Popul ar Organi zati on of Ti morese

Women

(OPMT)

or the Organi zati on of Ti morese Women

(OMT),

there

is

al ways that

qual i fi er

if

she i s capabl e.

Questi ons abound

as

to the w l l i ngness and capabi l i ty of women to parti ci pate. Most l y i t

was

the men who remarked that We gi ve t hemthe proj ects but they do not want to be i nvol ved.

We gi ve t hemthe chance to speak but they don t speak36. hi s att i tude i nti mdates rather

than encourages women. I n an i ntervieww th

a

Dstrict

Admni strator, she said that i n some

vi l l ages, the women wer e even prevented f romtaki ng up posi ti ons in the counci l s. She al so

narrated how

her

men col l eagues tested her tol erance, strength and capabi l i ti es to hol d on to

her posi ti on. Once in

a

meet i ng she was told to thi nk

as a

d stri ct admni strator and not

as a

woman acti vi st.

To ths,

she

retorted that bei ng

a

woman

hersel f, she

coul d not deny the

perspecti ves and the interests of the women. Si nce men have tradi ti onal l y domnated

the

l eadershi p at the communi ty- l evel , apparentl y,

a

Ti morese woman

has

to prove hersel f

capabl e of holdi ng on to

a

posi ti on mor e than the man has to.

On

the other hand, some women

who

are

also not used to

ths

arrangement of tenti mes gi ve way to the men s deci si ons as a

way of respect.

Reproduction

of

Gender Perceptions in

Girls

and

Boys

Aditjonndro

2001.

uoted from W o m e n

in

East Timor:

A

Report

on

Womens Health, Education, Economic

W o m e n in East Timor:A Report on Womens Health, Education, Economic Empowerment and Decision-

33

Empowerment and Decision-Making

making, p.75

35 Ibid.

34

From an interview with a district administrator and a meeting in Maliana.

6

23

bsiacles to thc Ii:,ifcctivc.ai.ticipaiioiiof

W(il.ricii

n i\tlult klucuiioii Pi .og .an s

Foc1 S o l socro

~ M l r doclci

s

A i l p s i 7001


23/54

In

a heated discussion with secondary school students, e sked: Can men hit their wives?

In

a chorus, they answered

BELE

ney can ) A boy offered an explanation, The man

teaches his wife and gives her advice but she never listens,so he hits her because of love. So

this

is

not domestic violence, this is not a crime. To this the girls agreed. But w hen asked

whether the girls want their future husbands to beat them

up,

they said, again in a chorus

TA

ELE (%ey cannot ).

To

this, the boys answered we

will

teach you a lesson.

The workshops wth grls and boys in the pri mary school , grades 5-6,and seni or secondary

hi gh school ,

class

3 provi ded i nsights on the reproducti on of gender rel ati ons i n the young

generati ons. In the workshops in Seni or Secondary School

(SMA),

students wer e asked to

gi ve the r opi ni ons to

a set

of si tuati ons regardi ng women and men. I n al SMA, he i ntense

debates/di scussi ons wer e around the issue of equal power between husband and wfe in the

home and on the real i ty of pregnant or mamed students going back to SMA. It was

i nteresti ng to note that the students also

agreewth

the val ues hel d dearl y by adul ts such as

that on the stab l i ty

of

thehome and

that

mor e chi l dren means weal th. There wer e nuances

in thei r responses, though.

Rol es and Mobi l i ty

Both boys and grls have responsibi l i ti es at home. However , boys seem to have mor e

mobi l i ty than g rl s. In the workshops done wth pri mary school students, when asked what

they do duri ng l ei sure tim,maj ori ty of the grl s answered that they

wash

di shes, study or

l earn how to sew On the other hand, most boys stayed outsi de to pl ay bal l whi l e a f ew said

that they study. When asked what thei r elder

si ster

or aunt does, boys and

girls

said that they

wor k at home to cook and

wash

clothes. Meanwhi l e maj ori ty sai d that el der brother or uncl e

or badi u stays outsi de

the

house wth fri ends and a fewdri nks

tua

(pal mwne), whi l e others

work.

I n

SMA,

he grls compl ai ned that they have l ess tim to study at home because of the many

househol d chores they have to do. They are al so not al l owed to go out and meet wth fri ends

except when there are school acti vi ti es to wor k on wth thei r fri ends. Meanwhi l e, boys,

al though they do chores l ike col l ecti ng wood or fetchi ng water, have mor e tim to study and

rel ax.

Percepti ons on theFaml y

On Power between men

and

womenn

the

home, n

al

workshops

wth

seni or secondary

students, both grls and boys bel i eve that under i ndependent East Ti mor , men and women

have

the

same

ri ghts. However , hey al so said

that

men have

mor e

power than women.

The

man i s the

chi ef

of

the

house and the woman shoul d al ways support hi m Even an educated

woman, some sai d, must return to the ki tchen to cook. Equal ri ghts

wer e

most of the

tim

referred to as the ri ght to do certai nrol es. For exampl e, now women can also go to

the

fie d

or

be

represented in the communi t y through

OPMT/ OMT.

heman can al so cook when the

woman

is sick

and can take

care of the

chi l dren.

In

al

SMA, he vi ewthat awoman can have the samerights

AND

power as the man i s f ought

outby mnori ty, most l y by gi rl s groups and

a

fewboys. I nteresti ngl y,they rei terated that in

the moder n democr acy, women,

f

they are capabl e (agai n the qua ifier), can go to wor k and

get

a

househol d hel per to do

the

chores.

24


24/54

O n

the m a n hitting his wife, in al workshops w th secondary students, there was an

acknow edgment that i t i s accepted that a man hts

hs

wfe to teach her a l esson especial l y

when

she

was not abl e to prepare the f ood. However , he maj ori ty of the grls admtted that

they do not want th s to happen to t hemwhen

they

get marri ed, but woul d prefer to get advi ce

f romtheir husband.

Thi s

i s

still

refl ecti ve, however, of

the

usual rol e of the men to teach

hs

wfe.

O n hether ma ny children are wealth to the family,maj ori ty of the SMA students thi nk

that

i t

is good for Ti mor to have a lot

of

chi l dren because they are the f uture of Ti mor .

Accordi ng to t hem whether East Ti mor wll devel op or not depends on them Therefore,

they have to study hard and wor k hard to devel op Ti mor .

Inevery school , a mnori ty group of grls and boys argued otherwse.

They

thi nk that chi l dren

are weal th but now they asked how are we goi ng to use themas weal th? For i nstance, ina

poor faml y, there are many chi l dren and they cannot sendt hemto school . Then, we use the

wr ong way the chi l dren who are supposed to be our weal th. When we consi der chi l dren as

weal th,

we

shoul d create good thi ngs for t hem We have to have chi l dren based on our

economc power. When we consi der

obstacles effective participation women in education

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