JU,S Jurídico Social Consultoria Lda

🌟 Empowering Youth for Inclusive Change! 🌟 We’re excited to share the inspiring journey of 14 passionate youth workers from 4 national organizations who recently took part in a 2-day Inclusive Training and Facilitation Skills workshop. These incredible changemakers, already working in rights-based awareness raising, learned how to enhance their training and facilitation skills to better support persons with disabilities. The training focused on: ✅ Inclusive Tools and Techniques: From using audio descriptions of images to incorporating emojis and visuals, the participants explored creative ways to make content accessible to everyone. ✅ Practical Solutions: The group developed cost-effective strategies to adapt their training and awareness-raising efforts, making them more inclusive and impactful. ✅ Learning Theories & Assistive Technology: Participants learned about essential learning models and discovered tools that can enhance communication for diverse abilities. What was truly inspiring? This was a first experience for many, but the enthusiasm and dedication to learning were nothing short of amazing. While there’s still a journey ahead, this training was an eye-opening and transformative step toward more inclusive spaces! 🌏 A big shoutout to our expert trainers, Joici Arruda, Brazilian inclusive education specialist, and Martinha Gomes, advocate for persons with disabilities and UNTL law graduate, for guiding the group with such passion and knowledge. 🙏 💡 Special thanks to UN Women’s Together for Equality Programme and JU,S Jurídico Social for supporting this incredible initiative! 🤝 Together, we're building a future where EVERY opinion is counted. 🎉 [All photos with Alt-Text for the visually impaired] #InclusiveTraining #YouthEmpowerment #DisabilityInclusion #AccessForAll #TogetherForEquality #ChangeMakers

Transformative Training for Gender Equality in Timor-Leste’s Sports Community Through the dedicated participation of 19 national federations —representing nearly 60% of Timor-Leste’s sports community—and close to 80 committed participants (with 30% being female), we have taken a powerful step toward fostering gender equality in sport. Supported by 6 skilled trainers (4 female and 2 male), this initiative tackled both the prevention and response to gender-based violence, equipping participants with the tools to challenge and dismantle harmful stereotypes and behaviors in sports. Symbolic Actions with Real Impact: - 4 boxing gloves: These were used to express participants' commitment against prejudicial gender stereotypes in sport. - Nearly 100 basketball passes: A powerful metaphor for shared learning and building knowledge. - Four Red lights: As a system to identify risk of sexual harassment and abuse in the Timorese sport environment. - Over 30 real cases across 20 countries and 18 sports: Real-world examples grounded our discussions, showing that every country and sport faces these challenges, underscoring a global responsibility to act. Key Takeaways and Goals Participants were engaged in: - Understanding the roots of gender-based violence in sports, analyzing persistent inequalities and barriers to gender equality. - Defining sexual harassment and identifying actionable strategies aligned with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and international federation standards. - Evaluating victims' challenges in reporting, empowering participants to reimagine their roles in preventing and responding to abuse. As one of the first training sessions on this critical topic for many federations, this engagement highlighted the need for continued, open, and critical reflection on practices and norms. The training developed and implemented by JU,S Jurídico Social, brought to life through a partnership between the Timorese National Sport Confederation and UN Women’s Together for Equality (T4E) program, ignites a path forward for a safer and more equitable sporting environment across Timor-Leste.

LIRAS: Booklet for Women's Access to Justice LIRAS is an informational tool developed to support the referral network in Timor-Leste, specifically to inform GBV survivors and document episodes of violence, particularly in the area of domestic violence. Building on the foundation of other successful booklets for women in accessing public services, LIRAS provides essential information on GBV-related laws, the nature of violence and victim's rights throughout the formal justice process. It also provides information on family related matters, such as divorce, marital asset as well as care of the children and alimony. LIRAS also features interactive sections for both survivors and police officers, public prosecution clerks and other service providers interacting with the women survivor of violence, aiming to ensure more accurate case documentation and enhance investigation and effective access to justice services. LIRAS was developed by JU,S Jurídico Social, as part of the Together for Equality Programme. You can access LIRAS (in Tétum) at www.jus.tl/liras

Making Meaningful Changes to Improve Female Access to Justice, one step at a time! There are several ways to improve access to justice for women, and one effective strategy is to support female legal graduates in obtaining positions at all levels within the justice sector. This is precisely what JU,S Jurídico Social aims to achieve through its preparatory training program, developed in partnership with the Timor-Leste Female Jurists Associations. The program is designed to support female legal graduates to prepare for an upcoming selection process for positions as Prosecution Clerks. Prosecution Clerks play a vital role in ensuring access to justice in Timor-Leste. They interact daily with victims of crimes, receiving criminal reports, taking statements, drafting documents, and keeping victims informed. In a country where 32.7% of all women has experienced physical violence at least once since age 15, Prosecution Clerks are the "door" for providing access to justice to the population. Prosecution Clerks are public employees who benefit from a competitive salary, career progression, and essential employment guarantees, including maternity leave and an old-age pension. JU,S Jurídico Social has developed a 52-hour program to prepare female jurists for the selection process, which includes a written test and an oral interview. Let’s support our female legal graduates and wish them the best of luck in their preparation and upcoming selection process!

Did you know that there is a big celebration in Timor-Leste today? No, it is not because of the US 4th of July... IT IS THE NATIONAL DAY TO CELEBRATE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN OUR BELOVED TIMOR-LESTE! This is a day to recognize the different abilities that enrich our community and support our sustainable development. While much still needs to be done to secure the rights of all without discrimination, Timor-Leste is strongly committed to taking decisive steps toward creating an inclusive community. Timor-Leste has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and has also approved a National Action Plan. The country implements social assistance for PwD and is slowly but progressively including their voices in decision-making and contributions to driving development. JU,S is also benefitting from an inclusive workplace and learning from our staff experience with their own ability levels. We are also investing in a more inclusive justice system with a scholarship for a female with disability to study Law. Together we can more. Together we can change.

AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN CONVICTED OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS BY THE DILI DISTRICT COURT Press Release – Immediate Release On the 25th of May 2024, an Australian citizen has been convicted to 11 years imprisonment for sexual abuse against a minor. The punishment was the result of two counts of sexual abuse, with the remaining indictment, in the form of 100 other counts of sexual abuse, being considered as an aggravating factor. JU,S Jurídico Social represented the victim in the case and declared that “We are satisfied with the guilty verdict and we congratulate the capacity of the judiciary in weighing the evidence presented and using all the elements proved before the Court.” – declared Adelina Meluk Lobu, lawyer for the victim. (...) With this decision, once again, Timor-Leste showed that it has a strong justice system with the capacity to prevent Timor-Leste becoming a destination for sexual crimes against children by foreigners. (...) Despite the conviction sentence and evidence of an increased capacity of law enforcement and the judicial system to deal with sexual crimes, JU,S considers that the Court has failed to adequately take into account the specific number of crimes committed, and therefore the punishment given, in fact, does not reflect the severity of the crime committed. Oddly, the Court in its decision denied the Prosecution’s request to declare the immediate detention of the Australian citizen following his conviction in first instance due to his flight risk. This decision contrasted with the practice of the Timorese Courts in swiftly securing detention of foreigners criminally convicted in the first instance. JU,S is exploring avenues to appeal this decision and is also preparing witness protection requests to the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of the victim and the witnesses. “We do not agree with the Court in allowing the accused to be in liberty while the case goes on appeal. However, we trust that the prosecution and the police will monitor that the accused does not run away from justice, that measures will be taken to monitor his movements to avoid threats to witnesses and re-traumatisation of the victim and ensure that the convicted foreigner does not leave the country”, declared Mr. Afonso.   (...) Currently close to 40% of convicted persons in the Timorese prisons are incarcerated for sexual violence crimes. With the Australian citizen today convicted for sexual crimes, there are now two male foreigners convicted of sexual crimes against Timorese children. One other male foreigner is awaiting trial in prison in Australia for possessing child pornography when leaving Timor-Leste, as reported by the Australian Federal Police. https://lnkd.in/g6BpBAab