Published on: 8 March 2016
On 8 March, women across Brazil will experience another important point of political demonstration, continuing on from the intense and permanent agenda of demonstrations that have been going on since last year.
Recently, significant reversals have occurred at institutional level, including the shutting down of the Department for Women’s Policies (Secretaria de Políticas para as Mulheres: SPM) and the Department of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality (Secretaria de Políticas de Promoção da Igualdade Racial da Presidência da República: SEPPIR), ministries created in response to the historic struggles of the women’s, black women’s and black movements. The merging of these ministries, including the Department for Human Rights, signifies a material and symbolic reversal by the Brazilian State in terms of recognizing the racial and gender inequalities that exist in the country. In the Legislature, the women’s movements have denounced the advance of conservative agendas, promoted by the perverse BBB (Bullets, Beef and Bible) Caucus. Amongst the changes that have had a significant impact on women’s lives are reversals in women’s sexual and reproductive rights and the reduction in the age of criminal responsibility, once again hitting hardest those young black men and women who are the preferred victims of police violence, causing enormous suffering to black women – the mothers, sisters, daughters and partners of these young people. Serious threats have also been proposed to Pension reform, which envisage, amongst other reversals, the end of special conditions for female rural workers and fisherwomen and the equalization of men’s and women’s contribution periods, disregarding the extra burden of women’s domestic work.
Domestic violence against women is the central fulcrum of the movements on 8 March and this is justified by the magnitude of this phenomenon. According to the 2015 Map of Violence, drafted by the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Faculdade Latino-Americana de Ciências Sociais: FLASCO), 50.3% of violent deaths amongst women are committed by family members. Another alarming piece of data, which demonstrates a perverse mixture of racism and sexism, is an increase of 54% in the number of black women murdered between 2003 and 2013. This despite approval of the Maria da Penha Law in 2006, inviting the State and society to reflect on effective strategies to confront violence, taking as a departure point the propositions of the women’s and black women’s movements.
The vitality demonstrated by the women’s movements in 2015, with the March of the Daisies and the March of Black Women against Racism, Violence and for Good Living, which together took more than 100 thousand women to the streets, as well as other demonstrations, such as the Feminist Spring and the Natural Hair Empowerment March, demonstrate the plurality of women’s agendas, means of organization and proposals for the future of the country, either now, on 8 March, or on 25 July – Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Women’s Day, or whenever the situation demands action for women.
Certainly, the strength of these women will continue to feature on the domestic political scene this year, strongly rejecting reversals and reinforcing alliances with the black population, indigenous peoples, the LGBT population, rural people from the waters and the forests, and other sections of society effected by the conservative offensive in the country. CESE will continue to strengthen the actions of women’s movements throughout the country, principally black women and populist movements from the North, Northeast and Centre-West – priority regions – as an expression of its commitment to women’s autonomy and to confronting racism and gender inequalities as a necessary condition for the advance of democracy in Brazil.