Depression, stress, and sleep difficulties are common psychological symptoms faced by officials of Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Social, Solidarity and Inclusion (MSSI) assigned to assisting with the victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence. Therefore, to provide psychological supports to these officials, the MSSI with support from ILO conducted a four-day basic psychological training in June under the theme: “Inclusion and Social Reinsertion for All”.

The ILO’s support was given through the Spotlight Initiative in Timor-Leste—a joint initiative of EU-UN to eliminate violence against women and girls. This global initiative is implemented by the ILO together with four other UN agencies in Timor-Leste.

The training programme was conducted in Aileu Municipality by Timor-Leste Professional Psychology Association (APPSTIL). A total of 33 technical and professional staffs of MSSI’s Support to Victims of Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence and Child Protection department from 13 municipalities participated with the composition of 21 women and 12 men.

During the training programme, they learned about anger and stress management, self-control, communications skills, personal development and primary intervention for psychological care for children and family.

Judit dos Reis Sarmento, Chief of the Department of Social Protection for Women of the MSSI, acknowledged that the technical and professional staffs have been psychological impacted since they have to handle cases of victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence in a regular basis. “This training programme is very important as it strengthens the participants knowledge and skills so that they can provide better service to the victims while maintaining their own strong psychological self-awareness,” she said.

One of the participants, Marciana Maria Oqui, MSSI’s Technical Social for Gender-based Violence, Special Administrative Region Authority of Oé-Cusse Ambeno (RAEOA), admitted that she found it difficult to sleep during the night, specially after conducted interviews with the victims. The harsh experiences of the victims going through domestic violence and the impact of the violence to the victims’ children had made her stressful, affecting her physical and mental health.

“This training programme really helps me to manage my anger and stress level. With the knowledge that I learned from the training, I can improve my professional services towards the victims without burdening myself psychologically,” she said.

Margaret Araujo, ILO’s Programme Coordinator for the Spotlight Initiative, emphasized the commitment of the ILO to support the national social protection programme to support victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence. “The training programme is one of the ILO’s commitments to help improving MSSI’s technical and professional staff to better handle and serve the needs of victims of domestic violence and transform their services with ethics,” she added.

According to the 2021 data of the Asia Foundation, gender-based violence is the largest category of crimes reported to police in Timor-Leste. Gender-based violence has reportedly increased due to COVID-19, as it is believed to have contributed to triggers for violence, such as financial stressors, close confinement of families and isolation from support networks.