National Parliament Member Josefa Alvares Pereira Soares said she considered comments by the Deputy Minister of Education for Secondary Schools,Virgilio Smith, published in the Timor Post (09/01/14) regarding alleged sexual abuseby the headmaster of Saint Miguel College (CSM)of a student, to have threatened students’ safety. 
A former teacher herself, MP Soares said Smith should not have made such comments, as the goal of education was to impart knowledge, not to exploit vulnerable people.
“I think such words could encourage the male students and teachers because (Smith) said the men could do whatever they wish,” said Soares, at National Parliament.
A photograph of the Saint Miguel College headmaster kissing a female student has sparked controversy after it was posted to social media.
When a Timor Post journalist asked Deputy Minister Smith for his comments on the case, the deputy minister responded, “Are you a man or a woman? A man is a man. Only gay men don’t like such things”.
Deputy Prime Minister Fernando Lasama de Araujo said he would not comment on the deputy minister’s commentsas he did not hear them, however he said sexual abuse is a crime which would not be tolerated.
“This deed is a crime. Send those who misbehave to jail;this is not a thing to be tolerated,” Lasama said.
He asked the victims to bring this case to the Ministry of Public because the law clearly states that sexual abuse is a crime.
Secretary of State for Equality Promotion (SEPI), Idelta Maria Rodrigues said she was very concerned about the deputy minister’s commentsas sexual abuse against students should not be accepted.
“I think we could not say that those words were acceptable because they were harmful to women’s lives and we need to combat this,” said Rodrigues.
She asked the Ministry of Education to pay serious attention to the issue in the schools as Timor-Leste has a zero tolerance policy for violence in schools.
“Don’t say that this misbehavior is acceptable,” she said.
The executive director of the Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP), Luis Oliveira Sampaio, said in a press release that he believed the deputy minister’s comments condoned sexual abuse by teachers against students.
“JSMP is concerned about the deputy minister’s comments which authorized teachers to commit sexual abuse against the students,” he said.
According to JSMP, many sexual abuse cases involve teachers and students.
In July last year, the Dili District Court sentenced two teachers to prison for 16 and 9 years respectively for crimes involving the sexual abuse of students.
