Dili, December 12, 2025 (Media Democracia) – The Secretary of State for Equality (SEI) and FOKUPERS, together with women and men participants, held a march starting from the Saudoso Nicolau Lobato roundabout in Comoro to the Golgota health center and finishing at Tasi 3 to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women in Timor-Leste.
FOKUPERS Director, Domingas Afonso Amaral, stated that although FOKUPERS has registered many cases, only 60 cases are currently able to continue receiving legal accompaniment to access justice. These cases mostly involve sexual violence that occurred in various parts of the country.
“The data we collected from January to September 2025 shows a total of 179 cases registered in the FOKUPERS database. Among these, 60 cases continue to receive legal accompaniment to access justice. We have seen positive outcomes in some cases, and some have been expedited, especially sexual violence cases, where suspects have already received prison sentences of up to 10 years,” said FOKUPERS Director Domingas Afonso Amaral.
She added that most registered cases involve physical violence with a very high number, while cases of sexual violence and incidents involving children also remain high. The most common type is abandonment.
“I believe that during this period, everyone has made efforts towards prevention through socialization activities, training, and sharing information via social media platforms to encourage the public to pay attention and prevent violence, including raising awareness to stop it. We continue carrying out awareness activities for women and men in prevention efforts, emphasizing collaboration with men to reduce violence and promote healthy communication starting from the family to the wider society,” the Director continued.
She affirmed that currently, most cases come from Liquiça Municipality, which records the highest number of domestic and sexual violence cases registered in FOKUPERS, followed by Ermera Municipality and other municipalities with similar trends.
Meanwhile, participant Faustina Filomena R. L. da Conceção said she felt proud and happy to take part in the awareness activity, which helped her gain new knowledge, including how to use digital platforms responsibly and to understand domestic violence and ways to prevent it.
“When I participated in this activity, I felt very happy because I gained a better understanding of what domestic violence means for girls and boys. This activity gave me the opportunity to learn information every year, as sometimes these problems happen and we don’t understand them, but through activities like this, we can improve our knowledge,” said participant Faustina Filomena.
She added that she calls on young girls, who now often use social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok, to use them responsibly and communicate respectfully because everything must follow its own ethical guidelines.
The march held during this activity was organized to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women and Girls in Timor-Leste. In addition, the activity aimed to raise awareness on digital literacy and online safety for women and girls of all backgrounds, and concluded with a related campaign.
Report: Nelfiano
Photo: Nelfiano