T

radition has been blamed for the increase in the number of domestic violence cases against women and children in North Central Timor (TTU) regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), over the last two years.

Anton Efi, director of the Amnaut Bife '€œKuan'€ Foundation (Yabiku), which has been struggling for women'€™s rights since 1999, said that in 2014 the regency saw 58 reported cases of domestic violence. The figure increased to 79 last year.

'€œAs of February this year there are already 15 cases,'€ Anton told reporters in the TTU capital Kefamenanu earlier this week.

He said in NTT, and especially in TTU, girls had always been considered weak and put second in family life, adding that they faced discriminated on many fronts, including access to education.

This, he said, continued when they left home to start their own families. Their husbands felt free to do whatever they wanted to them, including acting violently, especially when the marriage involved a large dowry.

According to Anton, the supervision program conducted by Yabiku in TTU had started to raise awareness in the community regarding violent customs, religious practices and community figures.

Women were becoming aware of their rights and ability to report violent treatment to law enforcement agencies in the region.

Anton said that in providing supervision, Yabiku did not only offer legal aid to victims of violence but also provided counseling help them psychologically recover.

Although its presence was initially met with resistance from locals, Yabiku and its partner organization, Oxfam, was eventually accepted in the region as evidenced by funding from the subdistrict for offering the paralegal support to the victims of violence.

Susana Naisoko, chairperson of paralegal group Alfa said that patriarchal customs in TTU set men in a higher position than women.

'€œIt'€™s considered taboo for a man in TTU to do domestic work, much less take care of children, accounting for why almost all domestic work is done by women,'€ said Susana, adding that violence against women was often considered normal in the region.

Head of Kuanak village, Central Bikomi district, Andreas Elu, expressed appreciation for the work of Yabiku and Oxfam in helping the government fight against violence against women and children.

Considering their importance, he said, his administration had allocated Rp 3 million this year for Yabiku programs in four hamlets in Kuanak.