Women in Betwixt: Safe House, State, And Community in the Gender-Based Violence Judicial Process in East Timor

Abstract

This paper argues that the Safe House institution is a “meeting point” between the legal state and the customs of society in negotiating and pursuing women's justice in the gender-based violence (GBV) judicial process in Timor Leste. A Safe House is an institution that is networked with other institutions in a Safe House System (SHS) to protect and help women victims achieve justice from domestic violence through the judicial process. The SHS not only helps women victim with legal matters but also supports their mental and physical health and strengthen their relationship with their family and society. From the perspectives of anthropology and legal pluralism, an institution can be one approach to unraveling the complexities of social and cultural structures that exist in society and the complexity of the legal state that governs them. This paper is based on research consisting of documents analysis and interviews with a number of informants involved in the judicial process of gender-based domestic violence in Timor Leste. In addition to interviews, the research was also based on observations in a safe house in one of the rural areas