Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10 - Timor-Leste Ministry of ...

who experienced sexual violence first experienced it at age 20-49 (data not shown). It is important to
note that in the 2009-10 TLDHS questionnaire, if a respondent experienced sexual violence
committed only by their current spouse/partner (or the most recent spouse if they are currently
divorced/separated), and their sexual initiation was not forced against their will, information was not
collected on age at first experience of sexual violence.
The main perpetrators of sexual violence against ever-married women are current
husbands/partners (71 percent) or former husbands/partners (9 percent). Seven percent of all women
who have experienced sexual violence experienced it at the hands of current or former boyfriends,
while 6 percent of women each experienced sexual violence committed by a relative other than their
husband, boyfriend, father, or step-father; 4 percent experienced sexual violence committed by
strangers (data not shown).
16.6 EXPERIENCE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF VIOLENCE
Table 16.5 shows the percentage of respondents who have experienced different forms of
physical and sexual violence, by age. Overall, 36 percent of women age 15-49 have experienced only
physical violence, while 1 percent have experienced only sexual violence. About 2 percent of women
have experienced both physical and sexual violence, and nearly two in five women (39 percent) have
experienced either physical or sexual violence. The likelihood of having experienced either physical
or sexual violence increases with age, from 31 percent among women age 15-19 to 49 percent among
women age 25-29 before declining to 38 percent among women in their 40s.
Table 16.5 Experience of different forms of violence
Percentage of women age 15-49 who have experienced different forms of violence,
by current age, Timor-Leste 2009-10
Age
Physical
violence only
Sexual
violence only 1
Physical and
sexual
violence 1
Physical or
sexual
violence 1
Number of
women
15-19 28.5 0.2 1.8 30.5 700
15-17 28.2 0.2 0.1 28.5 446
18-19 29.1 0.1 4.7 33.9 254
20-24 33.9 1.5 0.9 36.3 513
25-29 44.9 0.8 3.1 48.8 403
30-39 40.0 1.4 3.6 45.1 765
40-49 34.5 1.3 2.0 37.8 570
Total 35.8 1.0 2.3 39.2 2,951
1 Includes forced sexual initiation
16.7 VIOLENCE DURING PREGNANCY
Women who have ever been pregnant were asked about the experience of physical violence
during pregnancy. The findings presented in Table 16.6 indicate that overall, 4 percent of women in
Timor-Leste experienced physical violence during pregnancy. By background characteristics, the
results show that violence during pregnancy is higher among women age 30-39, unemployed women,
formerly married women, women with five or more children, rural women, women living in Liquiçá,
women with no education, and women in the lowest wealth quintile, than among their counterparts in
the other categories.
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