COVID-19 and gender-based violence against women with HIV/TB in East Timor

Our research reveals that women in East Timor, particularly those facing marginalization, have experienced this increase in violence to an alarming extent, exacerbating their vulnerability and further entrenching existing inequalities.

East Timorese women’s experience of GBV during the COVID-19 pandemic

A recent study co-authored by Prof. Paul Ward and Dr Nelsensius Fauk from the Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing (PHEHF) delves into the experiences of gender-based violence (GBV) faced by marginalised women living with HIV or tuberculosis (TB) in East Timor.

We interviewed 42 women (19 women living with HIV and 23 women living with TB) to understand their experiences of GBV in any form that they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated risk factors.

These women experienced violence in the form of physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse by their partner or spouse. Some even felt like the target of their partner’s or spouse’s anger resulting in physical beatings.

One of the married women described:

During the pandemic, my husband beat me every day, kicked my back, punched, [and] slapped [me]. He got mad quickly; he did not love me and wanted me to die, cursed me to die, …. we argued, we fought, he hit me with his hand

Another married woman told us her story about the acts of sexual violence from her spouse during the COVID-19 pandemic:

My husband often forced me [sexually] during the pandemic as he was at home a lot. I didn’t like being forced. If I have [sexual] desire, then I can do it; if not, then I don’t want. But as a wife, I can do nothing….So if my husband forced me to have sex, I had to accept it”.

Violence against these marginalised women not only came from their partner or spouse but also from their in-laws. Some share stories of being verbally abused, rejected, and scolded or shouted at.

One woman stated:

“We [the woman and her husband and kids] live together with in-laws. During the pandemic, we were often at home together. My mother-in-law always yelled at me, saying that because of my sickness, I didn’t want to work. . . I was feeling the rejection from her and others”.

Not only married women, but unmarried ones also experienced verbal abuse from their family members during the COVID-19 pandemic and were often deprived of their freedom.

Risk factors for gender-based violence

Women’s experiences of gender-based violence (GBV) were influenced by several factors:

• HIV or TB-positive status
• inability to work or find employment
• failure to perform household responsibilities during the pandemic
• increased risk of violence from family members, partners, spouses, or in-laws.

A woman told us that her weak physical condition due to the TB infection made her unable to do household chores during the pandemic. This was a reason for verbal violence against her within her family. She stated:

“I have been at home most of the time during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, so once they (other family members) saw that I didn’t do my responsibilities (culturally women are responsible for household chores), they didn’t accept it and scolded me. …. I was so sick, I wasn’t strong physically”.

Another woman shared a similar story of being abused by her mother-in-law due to her inability to find a job and work during the pandemic:

“We (the woman, her husband and kids) lived with my parent-in-law. When I was sick (during COVID), my mother-in-law screamed, asking me to find a job and work”.

Dealing with HIV or TB infection was already a challenging situation for these women during the pandemic. For most of them, the situation was even worsened by the fact that they were unemployed and had no income. They and their families had to go through financial difficulty during the pandemic, which caused spousal disputes, violence and divorce for some. One woman put it:

“My husband divorced me during the pandemic when we were in a tough situation financially, and I felt sad….”.

The effects of gender-based violence and the psychological consequences

For nearly all these women, experiences of gender-based violence resulted in heightened feelings of stress, fear, and anxiety. Many also faced isolation and alienation, struggling to confide in others and lacking supportive individuals in the aftermath of their traumatic experiences.

One woman said:

"I was insulted, abused by my husband and his family. I felt all the stress and pain. I felt that everything was empty to me and dark, and even more when I lost my child, and family from my husband’s side did not care about me, I was so suffering”.