2026 Theses Master's

Between the State and the Non-state: Women’s Access to Justice for Gender-based Violence in the Context of Legal Pluralism in Timor-Leste

Carreira, Matilde Da Luz

Timor-Leste has one of the highest recorded rates of gender-based violence globally, yet women’s access to justice remains constrained by a legally plural landscape in which state institutions, non-state justice mechanisms, and international human rights frameworks coexist in tension. Although domestic violence has been formally criminalized and the state justice system expanded since independence, many women continue to rely on non-state processes or delay seeking justice altogether.

This thesis examines how legal pluralism shapes women’s access to justice for gender-based violence in post-conflict Timor-Leste, with particular attention to how women perceive, navigate, and negotiate the gaps between law, institutions, and lived realities. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Timorese women, civil society actors, and justice practitioners, alongside feminist socio-legal analysis, the study shows that women’s justice-seeking decisions are shaped less by preference than by enforcement failures, economic dependency, social pressure, and fear of stigma.

The findings challenge accounts that locate the primary problem in legal pluralism itself, demonstrating instead that patriarchal norms and weak implementation operate across both state and non-state systems. While human rights frameworks such as CEDAW articulate strong normative commitments, their impact is limited by state capacity and translation into practice. The thesis argues that non-governmental organizations play a central mediating role in enabling access to justice and that a survivor-centered, non-carceral approach - focused on enforcement, accessibility, and accompaniment rather than legal reform alone - is essential for improving women’s justice outcomes.