After the CAVR: sexual violence survivors' struggle for equality, justice and healing

Maria Manuela Leong Pereira Asosiasaun Chega! Ba Ita (ACbit), TIMOR-LESTE

From a gender perspective, follow-ups of the CAVR's recommendations were disappointing. Government measures to address needs of the survivors of sexual violence are insufficient, and social discrimination against them is still rampant. Serious crimes trials have ended, and those convicted have been amnestied. They are now ready to retaliate against those who testified. The Asosiasaun Chega! Ba Ita or ACbit is a non-government organization that provides sexual violence survivors with participatory programs to empower them. The concept of self-empowerment is important as it builds ability to express their aspirations, share feelings, ask why and discuss how to overcome problems. The ACbit also carries out educational programs for the society, especially young generations, about gender-based violence and Timor-Leste's history from a gender perspective. More than twenty years since the national liberation, it remains a challenge for Timor-Leste to integrate the suffering of women and their struggle for justice in the national history of resistance and liberation.