Maria Dominggas Alves, forum coordinator, reports on the hopes of East Timorese women for the new East Timor. The women of Timor have been sacrificing themselves body and soul in the struggle for freedom and human rights. We now demand involvement in solving the conflict and planning for the new Timor Lorosae. The central problem of the women of Timor Lorosae is violence, which is part of the military occupation of East Timor. However some aspects of Timorese culture have a role in the creation of shackles which tolerate this violence.
Rape is one of the most dramatic forms of violence faced by women during conflict.
Throughout history, rape has been used as a weapon of war. Throughout they have had to rear the children who will become the next generation of the Timorese nation. Fokupers has heard many stories about the anguish which the military forces have brought to the women of Timor. I have given birth to five children from five different fathers, all members of the Indonesian army. I have been arrested, beaten, treated like a servant, and until 1991 I had to service soldiers at night time.