Feto bele: contemporary perceptions and expectations of women’s political leadership in Timor-Leste

ABSTRACT

This article explains how the face of political leadership in contemporary Timor-Leste is predominantly male, revealing the logics behind the preference for men. While an overwhelming majority of our survey respondents and focus group participants believed that women and men are equal and that feto bele, “women can” become political leaders, reservations about women’s attributes and capabilities were common. While women were generally perceived to have most of the important innate characteristics necessary for political leadership, such as intelligence and honesty, survey respondents and focus group participants consistently perceived that women do not have the skills, abilities, or experience to lead. These perceptions conformed to cultural gender stereotypes, creating an unconscious bias or “incongruent prejudice” against women leaders. Better appreciated were the structural barriers that women face, such as their substantial domestic burden, lesser access to financial resources, and cultural expectations. Women leaders face near-impossible expectations to also be the primary family caregivers and to run households, while male leaders do not. Furthermore, women leaders are expected to remain “feminine” – humble, calm, and caring – within an aggressively masculine political environment. To overcome these barriers to leadership, transformative change led by local actors is required, including increased awareness of gender stereotypes, structural and unconscious bias, and the harmful consequences for democracy of lack of diversity, along with some practical changes to electoral processes.

KEYWORDS:

• Women’s political leadership
• Timor-Leste
• gender and development
• gender stereotypes
• incongruent prejudice

Introduction

Women political leaders in Timor-Leste work across the realities of life in local rural and urban communities, from village and municipal hybrid governance systems up to the elite level of national politics (Figure 1). Enshrined in the latter are the principles of gender equality and progressive gender policies, including a parliamentary gender quota system. These achievements were won by the Timorese women’s movement and ensure women’s political participation in the national parliament in high numbers, though opportunities for their substantive participation and influence are uneven (Niner and Nguyen 2022).

Figure 1. Levels of government in Timor-Leste.

At the local council or suku level, emerging state structures have been grafted onto existing customary governance practices, leading to hybrid and irregular systems across the country (Cummins 2010). At the local level, women’s leadership is extremely rare because it transgresses customary practices. This research aimed to find out how members of the general public in Timor-Leste perceive women’s political leadership in order to understand why women do not win leadership positions in elections, and to make this information available so that candidates can strategize more effectively in the future.

This article reports on an empirical study conducted in Timor-Leste as part of a multi-country research project titled “Public Perceptions of Women in Leadership,” which investigated the “cultural, social and historical factors affecting public decision-making in voting and the perceptions of candidates’ legitimacy and capacity to lead” (Alola Foundation and IWDA 2020, 5).¹ The rationale was that the knowledge gained could be used to “foster women’s leadership legitimacy in the public eye” and to strengthen women’s meaningful political participation, leadership, and advocacy on issues that are important to them (IWDA 2019, 5–6). The following questions guided the study:

1. “What public views on the capacity of women to be political leaders are held?”

2. “How have public perceptions of women as leaders been influenced by gender norms?”

3. “How do public perceptions of leadership influence the opportunities and challenges for women who wish to become leaders?”

4. “What public views are there on how to create an enabling environment to support the meaningful participation of women as leaders?”

It was hoped that better understanding the limitations to women’s leadership and how to strengthen their legitimacy and meaningful political participation would lead to more effective advocacy on the most key policy areas.

This research was part of a larger multi-country study that included Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Cambodia. Overall, the study concluded that “public perceptions relating to political leadership, and to women as potential leaders, have a profound influence on women’s electoral success” (IWDA 2019, 5). The surveys in all of the countries indicated clear support for gender equality and for more political leadership by women. They also documented a clear awareness of formal structural barriers facing women leaders, but less awareness of informal barriers, such as inherent bias about women’s capacity. An incongruity or contradiction regarding the difficulties facing women leaders was apparent in these understandings, revealing both higher expectations of women and beliefs that men are better leaders. Contradictions were also apparent with regard to interventions such as quotas to increase women’s political participation, as respondents both supported such interventions while also being critical of them. The multi-country report concluded that political leadership remains strongly associated with men and that perceptions of women’s capacity for leadership were heavily influenced by stereotypes about women (IWDA 2019, 6–7). This article explores and explains how these dynamics operate in the post-conflict environment of Timor-Leste.

Theories of women’s political leadership

Earlier studies on women political leaders have recorded similar prejudice against them stemming from long-held stereotypes of women and explained how this leads to incongruity with newly introduced principles of gender equality. Eagly and Carli (2004, 292) developed the “role incongruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders” to explain this phenomenon. They argue that stereotypes of women are incongruent with requirements for leadership, which are typically “agentic qualities” such as being assertive and masterful that are associated with men (Eagly and Carli 2004, 293). This is a no-win situation for women, for if they violate gender stereotypes and demonstrate the agentic qualities needed for leadership, they will be seen as “undesirably masculine” and judged harshly (Eagly and Carli 2004, 293–294).

Bullough et al. (2012, 407) found that such cultural gender norms “play a huge role in the freedom and advancement of women” – as much as all of the other economic and social factors that they investigated combined. They point out that collectivist societies (such as Timor-Leste) “are negatively related to women’s participation in political leadership.” They state emphatically that

a family that discourages a woman from the idea that she might pursue a political career is more influential than any societal-level forces[, but] a family that supports or even encourages a woman to strive for political leadership will be more influential than societal approval or propaganda. (Bullough et al. 2012, 408)

The introduction of electoral gender quotas is a widely used strategy to induce more inclusive politics and promote social transformation. More than 100 countries have adopted some form of quota policy (such as reserved parliamentary or party seats or legislative quotas) to increase the selection and election of women to political office (Krook and Zetterberg 2014, 3). While Joshi and Kingma (2013) cite culture and attitudes toward women’s leadership as powerful constraints on women’s formal political participation, they point out that to begin to establish substantive representation, women must first be included in political institutions, a goal achieved by quotas and special measures. Complementary strategies are crucial, such as expanding the pool of potential female candidates and promoting a wider transformation of public views regarding women in politics (Franceschet, Krook, and Piscopo 2012; Krook 2015). For example, the South African women’s movement encouraged experienced members from its own ranks to enter politics (Kabeer 2005). Other forms of “women’s political apprenticeship” are recommended in political parties, civil society organizations, and more informal processes so that political skills and constituencies are progressively acquired, “building new pathways into politics, fostering political learning and creating new forms of articulation across and beyond existing democratic spaces” (Cornwall and Goetz 2005, 783).

The most common pathway for women political leaders in the past has been either belonging to a political dynasty or entering politics during a period of crisis or transition, when women are trusted for their “moral capital” (Choi 2019, 229). More recently in Asia, pathways have included quotas and more progressive political parties (Inguanzo 2020, 189). Conservative political parties rarely support women, but if quotas are in place, they will back a woman, particularly one from a political dynasty. While left-wing parties will also support women from political dynasties, they will support ordinary women if quotas are in place. This suggests that progressive left-wing parties, which are more likely to support gender equality, value women in their own right rather than for their elite political pedigree. In Indonesia, women say that “gatekeepers” in political parties remain barriers and that they are frustrated by “party leadership’s reluctance to nurture women to become experienced and skilled politicians” (Choi 2019, 243); by contrast, in Taiwan, women activists have “made inroads into the major political parties” and transformed the political culture (Joshi and Goehrung 2018, 367). The engagement between political parties and women leaders needs further investigation in specific contexts and will be discussed here in relation to Timor-Leste.

Research context: the new(ish) nation of Timor-Leste

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste achieved independence on May 20, 2002, following two years of United Nations (UN) administration, 24 years of Indonesian military occupation (1975–1999), and around 400 years of colonial association with Portugal. Today, Timor-Leste is considered a resilient democracy despite various post-colonial and economic challenges (Croissant and Lorenz 2018).

Political system

The new nation has a semi-presidential system, with separate elections for the president (as head of state) and the national parliament. In the closed proportional representation electoral system, voters select their preferred political party rather than voting for individual representative candidates. The votes received are translated into the number of seats that a party takes up in parliament. Whichever party or coalition holds the majority is eligible to form a government and appoint the prime minister and ministers for the next five years.

Local government bodies exist across 14 municipalities,² which are highly diverse and home to different ethno-linguistic groups. These municipalities are further split into 67 posto (administrative posts, formally sub-districts) and 442 localities or suku led by local councils headed by a xefe. Local governance is a hybrid and complex form embracing both newly introduced democratic processes and customary and ritual lisan practices (Cummins 2010). Women represent less than 5 percent of leaders at this level, though there have been some important civil society initiatives to support women’s local leadership and participation. The government has also supported women’s local leadership by legislating for gender quotas to get women voted in as xefe and onto suku councils (Niner and Nguyen 2022).

Gender discrimination in politics

Despite strong activism and the resulting changes, many Timorese women continue to face persistent discrimination in political representation (Niner and Nguyen 2022). Since 1999, international and national gender advocates have collaborated on strategies to raise the status of women, including constitutional statements ensuring the equal participation of women and men in political life (Cristalis and Scott 2005, 55). The 2002 constitution of Timor-Leste formalizes equality between women and men in law, stating: “Women and men shall have the same rights and duties in all areas of family, political, economic, social and cultural life” (RDTL 2002, Article 17, 8). In 2006, the East Timorese parliament introduced a 30 percent electoral quota, which paved the way for the election of 38 percent female lawmakers in the national parliament, a figure that has remained steady.

However, many of the practical needs of poor rural women, such as clean water, food security, and safe energy, remain largely unmet (Harson 2014; Nguyen 2014; Nguyen and McLennan 2019; Wong et al. 2018). Significant disparities also persist in economic indicators between men and women (Niner and Loney 2019). Women’s participation in the labor force (21 percent) and their share of waged employment (31 percent) are the lowest in the region (ADB 2014). More than 50 percent of women aged between 25 and 29 have no formal education, training, or employment (UNDP 2018). High birth rates, accompanied by high maternal and infant mortality rates, are slowly being reduced but are linked to alarmingly high levels of malnutrition among women and children (WBG 2016, 26). These factors, combined with stubbornly high rates of violence against women – including public sexual and physical harassment, particularly against young women and girls (JSMP and FOKUPERS 2011), suspected to have worsened under COVID-19 restrictions – lower women’s status and capacity to participate equally in society. Senior or elite women are the exception and remain powerful in Timor-Leste’s strictly observed social hierarchy. However, even elite women must conform to gender norms, accepting the full burden of domestic, reproductive, and care work, which often denies them public and leadership roles or even a place in the paid workforce and the social, economic, and cultural capital that accrues from it.

Customary beliefs and practices

Public perceptions of women as political leaders today are influenced by Indigenous beliefs and practices, along with colonial and post-colonial cultural and political systems, as well as those adopted by the new state of Timor-Leste. Local customary governance structures vary across a spectrum of matrilineal and patrilineal organization. Customary lore or lisan rituals are generally officiated by male luirai and lia-na’in authorities. Though not universally formally precluded, female luirai and lia-na’in are few and usually appointed only in exceptional circumstances when no appropriate male is available. This has largely excluded women from acquiring the experience and skills of public leadership. While some areas have specific rules about women not being allowed to lead, this is not consistent across Timor-Leste, and in matrilineal cultures, this prohibition is less likely to exist. Where there is precedence, women’s leadership has a stronger footing (Cummins 2011).

In customary belief systems, the roles of women and men are understood to be in balance; women and girls are associated with the private or domestic sphere, and men with the public or political sphere. Consequently, domestic duties and care of children largely fall to women, which correlates with varying levels of household decision-making power and, for some, formidable positions within families, which has led some scholars to categorize Timorese society as matrifocal (Costa-Pinto and Whittaker 2010; Siapno 2000). Most East Timorese women are proud of their care and nurturing role in the home and family and feel protected and respected by their strong culture, seeing no imperative for change. While many East Timorese believe that women’s and men’s roles are in balance, this cannot be concluded from either a political economy or feminist analysis (Niner 2011).

The normative socialization of gender with particular qualities and roles begins at an early age in every culture. In Timor-Leste, boys are generally allowed to roam freely in the community, while girls remain close to home, protected from physical and sexual harassment and performing domestic duties. The trend is for assertive, dynamic, and competitive qualities to be nurtured in boys and attributed to men (for example, courageous, self-confident, articulate, influential, decisive, and popular) and more “virtuous” qualities to be nurtured in girls and attributed to women (for example, gentle, nurturing, submissive, patient, stoic, careful, and self-sacrificing). In these ways, girls are often discouraged from displaying the active, more outgoing skills associated with agentic leadership. These stereotypically “feminine” traits, at odds with what is expected of political leaders, have been further entrenched by the dominant colonial institutions, most significantly the Catholic Church; 90 percent of Timorese identify as Catholic (ADB 2014, xiii).

Conflict and post-conflict

Timorese have faced widespread violence and trauma related to the Indonesian military occupation (Modvig et al. 2000, 1763), which has significant repercussions in contemporary society. In post-conflict environments, it is common for male military leaders, perceived to have liberated the country, to retain their privileged positions and re-entrench patriarchal attitudes and practices (Enloe 2004). As in most post-conflict societies, the effects of militarization in Timor-Leste have not been adequately addressed. This has led to an aggressive political environment dominated by former military leaders, resulting in a period of civil conflict and disruption of national reconstruction and development (Niner 2020).

In the early 2000s, UN chief Sérgio Vieira de Mello argued that Timor-Leste was a “test case … even a laboratory case” for the UN and other international agencies and hoped to see a “utopian transformation” of the post-conflict society (Kammen 2009, 385). The result has been a hybrid or a “mixing and melding” of Timorese and international “institutions, practices, rituals and concepts” that acknowledges the “strength and resilience” of Indigenous governance systems that have meaning and legitimacy for local populations (Millar 2014, 503). Gendered power dynamics and gendered restrictions remain rooted in discourses of nation, culture, and religion (George and Kent 2017, 518–520). In the post-conflict environment, significant effort has gone into raising public awareness to address the structural roots of unequal gender relations that underlie high levels of violence against women. Yet, despite advocacy, activism, and changes to the law under an internationally supported gender and development agenda, many Timorese women continue to face injustices, including in political representation.

The women’s movement and affirmative action

Timor-Leste has an active women’s movement – largely a coalition of local women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs), key women leaders, and parliamentarians, many of whom played significant roles in the independence movement (Niner and Loney 2019). Their identification of the importance of women’s political leadership resulted in the introduction of progressive egalitarian laws and policies in the post-conflict nation, including the electoral quota.

The proportion of women in parliament has remained steady at the one-third stipulated in the quota and remains one of the highest percentages of women parliamentary representatives in the Asia-Pacific region (see Table 1). However, some female parliamentarians have described feeling that their participation and influence are severely circumscribed by parliamentary and party dynamics. This shows that quotas are not a “shortcut” to women’s substantive political representation and participation, which requires change to informal cultures within political and social systems.

Table 1. Women members of parliament (MPs) in the national parliament of Timor-Leste.

Election year	Number of women elected	Percent of total elected
2001	22 (of 88)	25%
2007	18 (of 65)	27%
2012	25 (of 65)	39%
2017	21 (of 65)	32%
2018	25 (of 65)	39%

Increasing women’s formal political participation at the national level in Timor-Leste has been a focus of government and civil society for many years, while the local level has received far less attention and deserves more analysis (Cristalis and Scott 2005; Niner and Loney 2019; Niner et al. 2021; Niner and Nguyen 2022). However, there have been some important civil society initiatives to support this and to prepare local women candidates for election. The government has also promoted women’s local leadership by legislating gender quotas for candidates to local suku councils and to the position of xefe suku. Three rounds of elections for suku councils have taken place since 2002, with each election governed by new pieces of legislation (RDTL 2004, 2009, 2016) that have been integral to shaping the opportunities open to women.

The 2016 suku law profoundly changed how the councils and elections are run. A handover of electoral responsibility to community bodies means that strong oversight is needed if women candidates experience discrimination (Sousa 2018, 40). In 2016, the national civil society campaign “100% Ha’u Prontu” (“I’m 100% Ready”) supported women candidates, resulting in significant increases in the number of women running for positions and doubling the number of women elected as xefe suku (see Table 2). While it is certainly positive that women’s representation is increasing, improvements are slow and hard won (IWDA, Alola Foundation, and ALFeLa 2017, 28). While women holding reserved seats on councils are entitled to have their say, they have not automatically become part of the decision-making process. As in the national parliament, women suku council members are not always included in decision making or given the same opportunities as men (Cummins 2011). Additionally, local governance roles are based on voluntary service, which adds to women’s “triple burden” (Niner and Loney 2019, 5).

Table 2. Women xefe suku chiefs in Timor-Leste.

Suku election year	Number of women candidates	Number elected (percent of total elected)
2004–2005	66	7 (1.6%)
2009	15	11 (2.4%)
2016	319	21 (4.7%)

Voters’ perceptions of women’s leadership

Timorese voters generally agree that women and men should have equal opportunities to serve in leadership positions, which accords with other findings about the value placed on “modern” ideals of equality and democracy in Timor-Leste. In the Tatoli survey of 2016, respondents were asked a series of questions about women’s leadership. Most respondents (86 percent) believed that it would be “good” if more women enter politics in Timor-Leste (The Asia Foundation 2016). At the same time, almost one-third (32 percent) believed that the main reason for the low levels of female political leadership is that “there currently are no qualified women,” and nearly one-quarter (22 percent) felt that “women aren’t interested in becoming political leaders.” What this means is complex. The 2012 election observation results drew attention to the low numbers of women who voted for women candidates and referred to the impact of patriarchal values on voters’ assessments of candidates (Alola Foundation and HAK Association 2012). Voters tended to focus on women’s individual lack of capacity or confidence, overlooking the extra challenges that women must navigate.

Research method and limitations

The rationale of the research was that a deeper understanding of community views on the capacity of women to be leaders will assist local advocates working toward higher levels of representation of women in leadership (IWDA 2019). To this end, feminist principles, feminist participatory methods, and a collaborative research co-design approach with a local partner and women’s advocacy organization, the Alola Foundation, sought to prioritize Timorese knowledge and worldviews. The team (represented by the authors of this article) that collaboratively designed the research and carried out data collection and analysis in Timor-Leste was made up of members from the Alola Foundation, other local organizations, the National University of Timor LoroSae (UNTL), and the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA), as well as researchers from Monash University.

The research employed mixed methods to capture as many permutations of public perceptions of women’s leadership as possible, including a quantitative survey of 240 people, 18 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 130 participants covering a variety of demographic criteria (sex, age, location, geography, and social organization) (see Table 3), and 13 semi-structured interviews with key informants with knowledge or insight into the topic. A purposive selection of four research sites was designed to capture a representative sample of the population of Timor-Leste, but with random sampling of people within those sites covering different age and sex categories. The survey, FGDs, and interviews were all carried out at the same four research sites.

Table 3. Focus group discussion (FGD) participants: sex and municipality.

	Sex
Municipality	Male	Female	Total
Vikeke	7	8	15
Ossu	9	8	17
Maliana	8	6	14
Bobonaro	8	7	15
Atsabe	7	7	14
Gleno	10	14	24
Dili	17	14	31
Total	66	64	130

Results from the survey were presented at a “sense-making” workshop at the Alola Foundation with an expert steering group. Discussions informed the FGD activities and interview questions. Invitations to participate were issued by Alola Foundation staff and key informants identified in consultation with community leaders. Some FGDs were remarkably homogeneous in terms of the views of their participants, while others were quite diverse. The interviews also demonstrated many similar views – enough to conclude that we had reached a saturation point with the collection of data.

Feminist participatory methods were most effectively implemented in the FGDs. Rather than the traditional method of extracting information from the group through a series of questions and answers, with participants leaving with the same perspectives, they were encouraged to critically examine their responses and the impact of their perceptions on women’s leadership. In the first FGD activity, participants discussed how the leadership qualities are gendered to enable analysis of the impacts of this on women’s leadership and to question assumptions about why women are not chosen as leaders. The second activity posed a scenario that aimed to capture perceptions of the potential of stereotypically gendered candidates to win a local election. The final activity drew on survey results to facilitate a discussion about the assumptions that lie behind the perceptions of women’s leadership as a reflection of stereotypes and biases.

The earlier analysis of survey findings was integrated with that from qualitative fieldwork. Categories and themes were identified, and the findings were compared across sites and methods. Draft findings were presented to the steering group at a second sense-making workshop, and these discussions formed part of the final report on which this article is based.

The study represents respondents’ perceptions of women’s local political leadership in Timor-Leste in 2018 and 2019. Though every effort was made through purposive sampling to mirror the wider population of Timor-Leste, this research only claims to provide the perceptions of those consulted and cannot be generalized beyond the sample. A full representative picture of all perceptions across Timor-Leste would require a much larger survey cohort. However, consistent perceptions and potentially useful trends emerged when comparing how different cohorts of people think about these important issues.

An attempt was made to capture the perceptions and attitudes of non-binary people by conducting a FGD with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) representatives in Dili, where a self-identified community exists. However, this was not possible in rural areas, where conservative views make it difficult to be open and expressive of alternative gender identities. Adding options beyond the gender binary in the survey was also not considered possible because of the confusion that the terms may have created for respondents. Non-binary gender identity is contentious in Timor-Leste, and associated terms are not well understood, though “LGBT” as a general term is gaining traction. Common local terms for homosexuality are pejorative and would not have been appropriate to include (Niner 2022).

Findings

Demographics of the survey respondents

The demographics of the survey respondents according to sex and age broadly reflect the general patterns of the population of Timor-Leste (see Figure 2). There was significant variation in education and employment levels between the sexes (for difference in employment, see Figure 3).³ While men recorded higher educational achievements, the gap between younger and older women and men in relation to completion of education was changing among our respondents.

Figure 2. Participant sex and age.

Figure 3. Participant sex and employment.

Figure 3 provides a snapshot of women and men respondents’ level of employment. These differences reflect the significantly greater share of household work carried out by women. The volume of domestic work has implications in relation to women’s availability for other activities, including public roles, and makes taking on and maintaining those roles harder for women candidates. In addition to reflecting the greater opportunities that are afforded to males, these differences in women’s and men’s education and employment give men the advantage of more resources on which to draw to support political leadership bids. Research in other contexts shows that higher education “has been found to be important for women to advance into leadership positions,” though it may not be enough to transform negative family attitudes to women becoming political leaders (Bullough et al. 2012, 408). Glaeser, Ponzetto, and Shleifer (2007) confirm that there is a high correlation between education and civic participation, including voting and organizing.

Perceptions of societal gender norms and leadership

There was a high level of agreement that women and men have equal rights in Timor-Leste today (see Figure 4), yet over half of those surveyed also recognized that neither Timorese culture nor the current suku leadership support women to be political leaders. In addition, most survey respondents (approximately 70 percent) perceived men to be better leaders at the suku level, with slightly more women than men agreeing to this. While respondents perceived that women and men have equal rights to be leaders, the majority simply believed that men are better leaders. Paradoxically, while most respondents believed that women and men have the same potential to be leaders, they also believed that only men can realistically do it. Again paradoxically, while majority support was found for broad statements about gender equality, less support was indicated for statements or propositions concerning particular concrete issues such as affirmative action policies. Significantly, one-third of survey respondents, again more women than men, believed that women should prioritize traditional homemaking roles over public leadership. These deeply ingrained gender norms create a disabling environment and huge challenges for women’s leadership, explaining the low rate of women elected at the suku level.

Figure 4. General perceptions of gender norms.

Perceptions of leadership and women’s ability to lead

The important attributes required for local political leadership according to survey respondents are displayed in Figure 5. These are a mix of character traits (such as calm, humble, and emotional) and abilities (such as articulate, strategic, and responsible). Later in the survey, respondents were asked to consider this same list and say whether they associated these attributes more with women or with men (see Figure 6).

Figure 5. Suku leadership attributes.

Figure 6. Suku leadership attributes gendered.

Women were equally ranked on some of the attributes nominated as most important for good political leadership. The top three were intelligence, honesty, and articulacy (see Figure 7). Intelligent, the most important leadership quality, was overwhelming attributed to both women and men in both the survey (89 percent of both women and men) (see Figure 6) and FGDs. While the majority of respondents (60 percent of women and 71 percent of men) attributed honest to men and women equally, over one-third of women (35 percent) and 22 percent of men thought that honest was truer of women (see Figures 7 and 8). Similarly, the majority, 65 percent, saw emotional as a shared attribute, followed by nearly one-third (29 percent) who associated it with women, compared to 6 percent who associated it with men. Furthermore, in other data, women were more associated with being effective peacemakers.

Figure 7. Surveyed gendered attributes: honest, intelligent, articulate.

Figure 8. Diagram of spectrum of perceptions.

However, there were some essential qualities of leadership with which women were not as strongly associated, such as being articulate or popular (see Figures 7 and 8). Men were considered more articulate, strategic, and responsible than women (see Figure 7). Many FGD participants associated being articulate with men’s public speaking roles in customary practices on behalf of their family: “in traditional ritual only the [male] lia-na’in has the right to speak.” Being popular was understood as being well-known and associated more often with men who have the advantage because they are allowed to speak and socialize in public and also travel in wider networks, whereas women are often confined to the home and local community.

The skills for being an effective leader that survey respondents and FGD participants more strongly attributed to men were public speaking, preventing and resolving conflict and disputes, and making community decisions, particularly around land and natural resources – mainly reflecting research participants’ experiences of local customary governance. Some FGD participants explained that women are banned from being leaders or fulfilling some of the formal roles expected of leaders. Regardless of whether this is part of customary law or a reflection of community realities, some respondents further explained that women either do not have these skills or cannot develop them because of custom or gendered stereotypes. This, coupled with the tendency of many male leaders to mentor young men rather than young women for future leadership, makes it very difficult for women to develop the concrete skills that they are expected to show as leaders, or to have them recognized as such when they do have them. As in the survey, the FGD participants associated calmness more often with women, which was often conflated with being careful, patient, submissive, or obedient.

Women were also generally perceived to be more careful decision makers, more interested in community well-being, and better custodians of money. The women’s FGD participants made it clear that they saw women as good and considered decision makers because, as one woman explained, “[t]hey are careful; because they are afraid of creating problems, they make decision[s] slowly” – all of which were accepted qualities of good leadership. One interviewee explained the challenges for and benefits of women leaders:

Women have commitment but they do not have opportunity. Women are calm and relaxed doing their work; men spend more time to get the work done. In my observation of the last election, the capacity of women candidates was much better than men. In relation to conflict resolution, women do it better because they are calm. In 2002, when I was leader of a youth organization, I resolved many problems in the organization. Men always react to problems emotionally. If we give opportunities to women, I believe that they can do better. Women have the capacity to adapt to any situation. (female NGO representative, eastern region 1)

Women themselves, who have deeply internalized negative perceptions of their abilities, often lack the confidence or ambition to be leaders. Recognition and promotion of women’s positive leadership qualities and skills, particularly their community service, would be advantageous.

Structural barriers: conflicting expectations and a lack of opportunities and resources

The survey and FGDs also presented beliefs that women, unlike men, must prioritize family obligations before public leadership. Women are expected to manage these two roles simultaneously and, in any case, are often judged harshly for spending time away from their families. Conflicting expectations create a clear impediment for many current and aspiring local women leaders. This results in a significant advantage for men in the competition for political leadership, and a barrier or added challenge for women. It has the double consequence of not only discouraging women from taking on leadership roles, but also making it harder for them to be successful and maintain those roles in the long term.

Structural barriers for women were acknowledged in sections of the survey, particularly that neither Timorese culture nor the current suku leadership support women to become political leaders. While more women than men felt that women should prioritize domestic duties, they also showed a greater understanding that such duties create barriers for women. Most agreed that general socialization programs are needed, though positive discrimination opportunities and scholarships were less acceptable. While most FGD participants thought that men taking on more responsibilities in the household would allow more opportunities for women, they perceived it as unrealistic.

Removing structural barriers by providing material and financial support for women candidates, offering training for men, and increasing male allies and support from political parties were all suggestions from participants. Largely, most women lack access to the necessary social, cultural, and economic capital that is needed to succeed in a public competition for political leadership. Ongoing public analysis and debate of the various structural barriers that women face as candidates and leaders must be extended.

Though most survey respondents claimed that they would vote for a woman if she was on the ballot, we can conclude from the 2016 suku election results that most did not. While this indicates individual preferences, the realities of electoral processes must also be considered. Respondents noted that political party affiliation was the most important factor in choosing a candidate, but political parties remain bastions of male privilege and advantage. At the local level, women leaders must skillfully navigate the two worlds of the customary and the modern, with their contradictory values and expectations. More acceptable models of independent women’s political leadership, perhaps as yet unimagined, need to be explored and exemplified. A clear vision for women’s leadership is not yet prominent in the public perceptions uncovered in this research and needs further work and elaboration.

The 2016 law meant that suku elections were coordinated by communities themselves for the first time. This research concludes that the main source of information for voters was largely controlled by the incumbent leadership, who were overwhelmingly male and invested to varying degrees in maintaining their roles and the status quo. This finding, in addition to the generally held belief that men are better suku leaders, presents a huge challenge for women’s local leadership. Participants clearly stated a preference for objective electoral information and gave many suggestions for how this could happen. In one interview, it was conceded that women’s lack of resources hinders them as candidates, emphasizing that women’s organizations “must work closely with the community to identify and accompany potential women to participate in the election” (Electoral Commission representative, Dili).

Instances of excluding and undermining women during political campaigns by using cultural rituals to weaken their campaigns or leadership positions were also documented. One woman from a local NGO related the following anecdote:

There [was] a case in one hamlet that a group of senior men prayed to their ancestors to not allow the wom[a]n candidate to win. They roasted red chicken and red pigs. These things need to be changed and we need more socialization so that people will change their attitude. (female NGO representative, eastern region 2)

More extreme ways in which women candidates are excluded and undermined – including verbal denigration, intimidation, and physical abuse – were also mentioned by participants.

In the FGDs and interviews, informants were asked to examine perceptions found in the surveys, delving deeper and revealing the logics underlying negative perceptions of women’s leadership. While the responses of older people in the FGDs relied more heavily on gender stereotypes, generally only participants in male and several mixed-gender FGDs insisted on continued patriarchal leadership. Younger people were overwhelmingly more egalitarian in their perceptions than their elders. Though the influence of gender stereotypes remained strong in responses from most women’s FGDs, they did perceive women as capable leaders. There was a dynamic difference of opinion among the FGDs of younger men, who were conflicted as a cohort over changes to gender roles and relations. When analyzed, the data showed three significant characterizations of perceptions among FGDs (see Table 4), with some correlation of attitudes relating to sex and age.

Table 4. Focus group discussion (FGD) categorizations.

Category	Common perceptions	Frequency
Patriarchal perceptions	Perceptions that men rightfully dominate political leadership	Apparent in seven groups of typically older men
Egalitarian perceptions	Perceptions of equality of leadership qualities between sexes	Apparent in five groups of typically younger people
Pro-woman perceptions	Perceptions that women are better qualified for political leadership	Apparent in six groups of mainly women

The deeper logics and understandings underlying these perceptions are explored more fully in the next section and placed along a spectrum of perceptions.

Discussion

Perceptions of women leaders in Timor-Leste

Overall perceptions captured in survey responses concerning “good” local governance were conservative. While most respondents agreed that feto bele, “women can” become leaders, paradoxically they also believed that women do not embody the qualities needed for leadership. This precludes women from anything other than the traditional occupations of wife and mother, caregiver, nurse, teacher, or community volunteer. The most significant finding of this study was that leadership qualities and skills were associated with men, making women’s leadership unfamiliar, even aberrant. The association of qualities with gender is socially and culturally learned, establishing and reproducing a system or regime of gender roles and relations entrenched in everyday practice. Gender stereotypes are strongly held by both women and men, even those who support women’s leadership. This is consistent with a deeply embedded social and cultural acceptance of men as public leaders because that is the most familiar leadership model, with few people having any experience or knowledge of other models. Apparent incongruities and contradictions in views about political leadership can be explained by these stereotypes, which underpin unconscious or implicit biases about men’s and women’s abilities. Bias, prejudices, and stereotypes may be incompatible with the conscious values held by people, which explains why most respondents agreed that “women have sufficient qualities to be a leader” while also agreeing that “men make better leaders.” This is consistent with international studies that explain prejudice against women political leaders with reference to incongruities between long-held stereotypes of women and new principles of equal opportunities (Eagly and Carli 2004, 292). More problematic in our study were the violent responses expressed in some FGDs toward girls and women who do not conform to their expected role. The threat of violence toward non-conforming women and girls is real and a significant barrier for women leaders in more conservative communities in Timor-Leste. It was discussed in the first sense-making workshop that non-conforming individuals or groups are subject to sanctions and punishment, sometimes backed by threats and actual violence.

Culturally, women are not encouraged to develop the qualities required to be successful at independently winning and keeping political office in the current competitive political system in Timor-Leste. It was perceived that political leadership requires the qualities of confidence, popularity, assertiveness, even aggressiveness, and the ability to freely travel around communities to consult and spend time with citizens and to resolve their problems and disputes. These qualities and abilities were not associated with women. The majority of survey respondents did not consider that women have enough confidence to enter politics, and even when stimulated to think more deeply in the FGDs, many participants still cited women’s stereotypical and socialized characteristics of being shy, unconfident, reluctant to compete, or unable to cope with stress and conflict. Women are not socialized to develop the attributes required for leadership but are then also blamed for not embodying them. Additionally, the internalized stereotypes result in women believing that they are not capable of leadership and should rather stay home and prioritize domestic responsibilities.

Participant responses revealed double standards for men’s and women’s leadership behavior that substantially advantage men. Women leaders are expected to navigate conflicting expectations that they be both fully available to their constituency and fully available to their families, and they are judged negatively if they fail to do so. A further social impediment for women leaders is the competing expectations that leaders must put the community before their families, but that women should do the opposite and put their families before any community duties. This is difficult at the local level, where pressure to conform to traditional gender stereotypes is stronger, but also at the national level, which was perceived as taking women away from their families and into another realm that is incompatible with traditional roles.

Women leaders and candidates struggle to navigate these competing expectations, and the expectation that they should be “feminine” while also being confident and competitive in seeking and maintaining political office. Women may be judged harshly and criticized as being too loud if they speak their mind confidently and show that they are assertive, strong willed, or forceful, which undermines their ability to win in a highly competitive election. There were many suggestions of individual “feminine” qualities that woman leaders should or could better embody, revealing the double standards set for women’s and men’s leadership and the higher expectations of exemplary behavior for women. Women cannot just be good leaders; they must also be paragons of womanly virtue.

At worst, gender stereotypes in Timor-Leste disqualify women from leadership because they are not perceived to be equipped with the necessary status, qualities, skills, or experience; at best, they are judged according to conflicting expectations and forced into a style of virtuous leadership that disadvantages them in an aggressive, competitive political environment. As there are few examples of women leaders to follow, this is a self-perpetuating system that requires further intervention to raise awareness of how these cultural constructs advantage and privilege men and disadvantage and create barriers for women.

Possibilities for change in perceptions

Possibilities for change in the way in which women leaders are perceived emerged in the analysis of the varied perspectives in deeper FGDs. While some of the FGD participants from locations with strong customary governance and practices favored conservative customary practices that only allows senior (male) lia-na’in or men of liurai heritage to retain leadership positions, others were definitely open to allowing women to lead at the local level. Additionally, when FGD participants were asked to interrogate individual leadership qualities more deeply, older women and men largely perceived their own sex to be better leaders, while younger people were found to be more egalitarian. Some participants in younger men’s FGDs were conflicted about changes to gender relations apparent in contemporary society, while others were very socially progressive. In further discussions, women also perceived that women have the qualities and skills required to be leaders – and would be better than men because of their particular experiences and empathy. Participants in FGDs of younger people, who represent the future of Timorese society, were overwhelmingly egalitarian in their thinking. These trends may demonstrate that change is occurring in belief systems in response to rapid social change since independence.

The results of deeper discussion and analysis in the FGDs showed a spectrum of perceptions (see Table 4), including four broad categories into which people tend to fit: (1) customary or traditional social conservative, (2) nationalist-modernist hybrid (with two important variants), (3) nascent feminist, and (4) feminist (see Figure 8). Approximately one-third of the respondents fell into the “customary or traditional social conservative” category, approximately half into the “nationalist-modernist hybrid” category, a much smaller number into the “nascent feminist” category, and even fewer could be categorized as “feminist.” While it is more accurate to view people’s perceptions and attitudes as complex, hybrid, and layered, these categories are nonetheless useful for analysis underpinning a strategy for change and action for a shift toward more progressive attitudes and provide clear entry points for interventions appropriate in local Timorese communities. Without these transformative interventions, men’s domination of political leadership will continue. Current public information or educational socialization campaigns may be useful in changing initial attitudes, but their impact has remained fairly superficial. Though small in number, feminists and nascent feminists could act as catalysts for further action and advocacy and as agents of the transformative change required to shift perceptions along the spectrum toward more progressive attitudes. To move beyond broad ideas and statements of gender equality toward engaging with gender as a social construct, it is necessary to challenge the power relations that underlie inequalities.

These findings suggest opportunities for the women’s movement and women candidates to develop political campaigns that strategically leverage these existing attitudes, emphasizing women’s perceived skills and abilities and explaining their importance in exercising good leadership. If this can be combined with social and political systems that offer women genuine access to political office and structures and equal opportunities on a par with men, the future of women’s leadership and gender equality would be brighter. The combination of these two factors would create a more enabling environment – a very optimistic finding for the future of gender equality in Timor-Leste.

Conclusion

Men’s dominance in politics can be partly attributed to customary beliefs and colonial and religious influences that assign the head of household and community leadership roles to men, resulting in beliefs that men innately have the attributes and experience required for leadership. Men’s familiarity with operating in the competitive national political arena that they have created establishes their political privilege and advantage.

Since national independence, Timorese women have struggled to implement leadership strategies within patriarchal cultures of male domination at both the formal policy and the individual levels in local communities up to the national level. Having achieved a remarkable national quota of 30 percent in parliament, their efforts continue, despite the challenges, to increase women’s substantive participation and influence. Women leaders also face backlash or resistance because they are not seen as worthy of the roles that the electoral system now offers them. This accords with international experience showing that gender quotas are only a first step with little impact on existing gender regimes within political parties, parliamentary dynamics, and wider society (Joshi and Kingma 2013). As has also been argued internationally, the women’s movement needs to make inroads into political parties before women’s leadership can advance; anecdotally, some assert that this is beginning to happen more in progressive parties in Timor-Leste (Niner and Nguyen 2022). Solidarity with and support for the women’s movement and its allies are required as only local movements for social change with culturally appropriate strategies can be effective.

The research participants in this study demonstrated awareness of structural barriers for women leaders, but this awareness needs to be extended before broadly supported affirmative action for women in politics can take place. In the FGDs, many participants were stimulated by the feminist participatory methodology used, and this is recommended as a basis for establishing methods of transformative change in the future. Feminist participatory methods can be effective in exploring discriminatory or highly normative views; power analysis or critical analysis may be useful in understanding how leadership is conceptualized in relation to gender, social class, social capital, geographic location, and family networks. Deeper and transformational analysis of the operation of gender stereotypes, power hierarchies, and inequalities in society and culture may stimulate awareness. Adequate time and funding are critical in ensuring that analysis is deep and thorough and effective programs are devised (Alola Foundation and IWDA 2020, 16).

Three broad challenges for women’s political leadership in Timor-Leste emerged from our research:

1. Many women lack an innate belief in themselves as leaders as a result of internalizing the culturally prescribed “feminine” gender stereotypes (gentle, nurturing, calm, submissive, patient, stoic, careful, and self-sacrificing), making most unconfident to compete for and sustain political leadership. Such self-perceptions are nurtured in families, and for this to change, deep transformations are required at that level.

2. Women’s political opportunities are hampered by public perceptions of their individual lack of leadership qualities and skills because it is perceived that only men have these qualities and skills. This must also be tackled at the community level and in educational settings.

3. Women’s political leadership is hampered by structural barriers such as conflicting expectations, a lack of opportunities and resources, and a disabling environment created by Timorese customary governance, national political institutions, and religious systems.

The combination of improved public perceptions of women’s leadership and a strengthening of the social and political systems that support them would provide an enabling environment for women leaders and a pathway to improving gender justice in Timor-Leste. Enabling formal political systems already exist in the form of quotas, so it is the less obvious informal social or cultural norms that need to shift within families, communities, political parties, parliaments, and electoral offices and systems. The women’s movement and its allies in Timor-Leste are the most qualified to engage and shift this political culture. Though there are pockets of deep resistance to women’s political leadership in Timorese society, change was apparent in the many varied and hybrid perspectives displayed in the deeper discussions in the FGDs and interviews. This shift, together with concerted efforts, signifies the potential for real and meaningful change for future women’s leadership.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sara Niner

Sara Niner is a deeply engaged interdisciplinary academic with a personal commitment to social justice. She is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, Australia. As a critical development studies scholar, she has undertaken primary field research in developing-country contexts, particularly in the new nation of Timor-Leste. Her innovative research with local and international NGOs has brought new knowledge and policy advancement to the sector. As a regional gender expert, she has analyzed and reported on gender issues in Southeast Asia for local and international development agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women, Oxfam, and the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). Prior to becoming a critical development scholar, she spent a decade working with the East Timorese diaspora in Australia, followed by many years working and researching in Timor-Leste after the nation became independent post-1999.

Therese Nguyen Thi Phuong Tam

Therese Nguyen Thi Phuong Tam is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Social Science at the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL), Timor-Leste. She is the Director of the Masters of Community Development program. Her research interests include gender and development, and in this field she has published research on social norms in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), women’s engagement with agricultural and cooking technology, reproductive health, political participation and leadership, academic women’s mobility, and elderly women’s rights in Timor-Leste. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she wrote about the limitations of information technology in learning and teaching in Timor-Leste, which helped to raise awareness about how the pandemic affected many students endeavoring to cope with the crisis situation.

Emily Morrison

Emily Morrison is the founder and director of the local development organization Sustainable Solutions Timor-Leste, which focuses on gender, community, and socially inclusive approaches. The organization works with human rights and strengths-based frameworks to foster significant, sustainable change at community and organizational levels. She has over 20 years of experience in Australia and internationally, specializing in supporting and strengthening institutions and grassroots organizations to adopt long-term solutions to development challenges and improving community engagement strategies. Building on this experience, she also engages in policy and organizational development.

Maria Evelina Iman

Maria Evelina Iman was born in Nusa Tenggara Timor in Indonesia but has lived and worked most of her life in Timor-Leste. For almost 25 years, she has been continuously engaged in activism, human rights advocacy, and community development-related work. She has led the Alola Foundation’s Advocacy team for over eight years, focusing on human rights, women’s empowerment, gender equality, and women’s leadership, and managing staff and volunteers based both in the Dili office and in the municipalities. She is passionate about preventing and responding to violence against women and children and views women’s leadership as an integral element of working towards gender equality. She is an accomplished program manager, advocate, facilitator, and trainer and strongly believes in ensuring that community voices are heard in national-level discussions and policy making. She has a Bachelor of Agriculture degree from Tribhuwana University, Indonesia.

Notes

1 The multi-country research project included Timor-Leste, Cambodia, and the Solomon Islands, as well as a 2014 study in Fiji. The project was funded through the Funding Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW) program of the Government of the Netherlands and implemented by the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) Women’s Action for Voice and Empowerment (WAVE) program in partnership with local organizations. In Timor-Leste, the local partner was the Alola Foundation (or Alola for short). This article is based on a large dataset collected by the authors and research team in 2018 and 2019 (Niner et al. 2021) and published in a final research report titled Public Perceptions of Women’s Political Leadership in Timor-Leste (Alola Foundation and IWDA 2020). The final research report of the overall project was titled Public Perceptions of Women as Political Leaders: A Multi-Country Study (IWDA 2019).

2 This includes 12 municipalities and the Special Administrative Region of Oecusse Ambeno. As of January 2022, there were 14 municipalities, including Atauro Island, within the Dili Municipality.

3 Further figures are available in Alola Foundation and IWDA (2020).