Women's rights in Brazil
Encyclopedia
Women’s societal roles in Brazil
have been heavily impacted by the patriarchal traditions of Iberian culture
, which hold women subordinate to men in familial and community relationships. As the largest Roman Catholic nation in the world, religion
has also had a significant impact on the perception of women in Brazil, though over the past century the Brazilian government has increasingly broken with the Catholic church in regard to issues related to reproductive rights
. Brazil is thought to possess the most organized and effective women's movement in Latin America
, with visible gains having been made over the past century to promote and protect the legal and political rights of women. Despite the gains made in women's rights
over the past century, women in Brazil
still face significant gender inequality
, which is most pronounced in the rural areas of Northeastern Brazil. In 2010, the United Nations
ranked Brazil 73rd out of 169 nations based on the Gender Inequality Index, which measure women’s disadvantages in the areas of reproductive rights
, empowerment
and economic activity. Women’s movements in Brazil have traditionally been led and supported by upper middle class
women, and tend to be reformist rather than revolutionary in nature, though clear exceptions exist, most notably with regard to agrarian land reform
movements. Though suffrage
was granted to women in Brazil
in the 1930s, it was not until the 1970s and onwards that a broader, more potent women’s movement took hold in Brazil.
, Canada
and Ecuador
. Though a feminist movement had existed in Brazil since the mid-nineteenth century and women did petition for suffrage to be included in the 1891 Republican Constitution
, the drive towards enfranchisement only began in earnest under the leadership feminist, biologist and lawyer, Bertha Lutz. Following the publication of an article in the Revista da Semana, which called upon women to prove their worthiness to men through their achievements and organize in order to demand the right to vote, various women’s organizations appeared. Lutz founded her own organization in conjunction with American suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt
in 1922, the Brazilian Federation for the Advancement of Women, which would become the leading suffrage organization of Brazil and was affiliated with the International Women's Suffrage Alliance. Brazilian suffragettes were literate, professional women who made up only a small percentage of the female population in Brazil, the latter which remained largely illiterate. Hence, the campaign for suffrage was by no means a mass movement, and was decidedly moderate in nature. The conservative character of the suffrage movement provoked little resistance from government, and suffrage was declared by Getulio Vargas
in 1932 and later confirmed in the 1934 Constitution. Just two years after women’s suffrage was declared in the 5th Constitution of Brazil, two women were elected to Congress, ten females were elected mayors and assemblywomen, and thirty women were made councilwomen in Brazil. Though government jobs had been available to women in the past, women had not held electoral positions until after suffrage was won and the amount of women in governance continued to grow throughout the twentieth century.
, but also were given preference over men in all government jobs dealing with the home, motherhood, children, and working conditions for women. The preferential treatment afforded to women in regard to certain government positions was controversial at the time.
could be assigned and titled “in the name of the man, woman, or both, independent of civil status.” This was the first time in Brazilian history that women could legally be named beneficiaries of agrarian reform
measures. The 1988 constitution also declared for the first time that urban and rural women and men had the same rights to social security
benefits. Despite the declaration of such rights, as of 2000, institutions had not been established to enable or enforce gender equality
in land reform. Furthermore, the Constitution promised "....protection of the labour market for women through specific incentives, as provided by law," and established a minimum required maternity leave of one hundred and twenty days and the introduction of paternity leave.
of Brazil, married women could not lawfully acquire or possess their own property until 1962. Presently, inheritance law differs based on matrimonial regimes, of which there are four. Under the full common-property regime, which was inherited from the Portuguese legal tradition
, widows do not inherit from husbands unless there are no living children or parents. Under the separation of the profits regime, which is the default regime, widows have the right to one-quarter to one-half their husbands’ estates (depending on the presence of children), yet are not granted ownership rights over any property inherited and automatically loses all privileges if they remarry. This regime has been criticized as positioning widows as mere custodians of property for children, rather than legitimate property owners. Indeed, studies show that a women’s ability to exercise her right to inherited property is largely influenced by whether she is viewed as a potential agriculturalist. Women are often denied access to inherited property because they do not inherit from their fathers and are not recognized as worthy heads of productive units. Though consensual unions were recognized by the 1988 Constitution, women in consensual unions were not endowed with the same inheritance rights as married women until 1994.
With the return to civilian rule in 1985, President José Sarney
made the more equitable distribution of land one of his attested objectives, issuing a directive to the Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Land Development in 1986 urging that beneficiaries of land be chose “independently of sex.” In conjunction with the democratic opening of the 1980s, a rural women’s movement emerged with calls for inclusion of women in rural unions and guarantee of social security benefits, such as paid maternity leave and retirement pensions, for rural women. The National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG), which is the largest organization of agricultural workers in Brazil, tackled women’s rights for the first time during its fourth congress in 1985, when it decided to extend membership to more women and actively work to end gender discrimination. Demands for more equitable agrarian property rights, championed by organizations such as the Central Worker’s Union, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Women’s Council led to agrarian reform measures in the 1988 Constitution. Grievances still abound regarding equal land distribution in Brazil, evident in the Marcha da Margaridas of 2000, in which over fifteen thousand women marched on the capital to demand joint allocation of land to couples, rather than just men.
were not fully addressed until 1978, with the passage of a law declaring that women be paid equally for equal work, which was confirmed in the 1988 Constitution.
Working class women began to organize on behalf of women’s issues in the 1970s. Working class women’s organizations, such as the Housewives’ Association of Sao Paulo and the Mothers’ Club of Sao Paulo, became increasingly important arenas for women to express grievances with regard to informal care work
and the cost of urban living. Women’s involvement and leadership among unions have been less successful, as is the case in other Latin American countries. The first Congress of Female Metalworkers of Sao Paulo, held in 1978, was harassed and threatened by employers to the extent that only 300 of the 800 women who had signed up actually attended to conference. Current female participation in the labor market is 65 percent for women compared to 85 percent for men. Domestic workers have become increasingly organized through global professional networks and trade unions, though domestic labor remains a significant, and vastly under-regulated, form of work for women.
is not considered a profession and hence sex workers do not have labor rights. Fernando Gabeira, founder of the Green Party
, recently introduced a piece of legislation to Congress to establish prostitution as a recognized profession, however the bill was defeated in 2007. The Center for the Study of Prostitution (NEP), which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and Brazil's National Network of Sex Professionals, continues to advocate on behalf of the recognition of prostitution as a profession under standard labor and social security laws. These organizations have played a significant role in public health initiatives aimed at preventing and treating HIV/AIDS. Carmen Lucia Paz, a former prostitute and researcher at NEP, has become one of the most vocal champions of sex worker rights
in Brazil.
, abortion
and immorality in the same classification. Three factors that have impacted contraceptive laws on Brazil are the influence of the Catholic Church, the legacy of Iberian culture
, and the historically conservative approach to women’s status in Latin America. The Bem-Estar Familiar no Brasil (BEMFAM), which is funded by the International Planned Parenthood Federation
, is the leading NGO in the country dedicated to family planning. A laissez-faire attitude adopted on the part of the Brazilian government in the 1960s has led to the predominance of private organizations that provide family planning
services. The government has taken measure to extend planning to poorer Brazilians by subsidizing birth control pills and sterilization
at government clinics. The current birth rate in Brazil is at a replacement rate of about 2.18 births per woman estimated for the year 2011. Brazil has witnessed one of the most dramatic reductions in family size in modern history due to increased access to contraception over the past decades. Indeed, the fertility rate has been steadily decreasing for over the past four decades due in large part to the use of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion. .
Sterilization has become increasingly popular in Brazil since it became legal and free for women over 25 in 1996, and is regulated by the Health Ministry. It had already been a popular practice among poor communities before the legalization of sterilization, and was practiced in private clinics. In 1994, over sixty percent of women in Goiás
, and over seventy percent of women in Maranhão
and Mato Grosso
were sterilized. After the 1996 law, sterilization became part of the population control
policy of the Brazilian government. Though some view sterilization as an inexpensive form of birth control and a useful tool in population control, others see the mass use of sterilization in Brazil as contrary to promoting women’s choices in contraceptive use. Sterilization is most common among Afro-Brazilians in the Northeast of the country who are too poor to afford other types of contraception and uneducated on the long term consequences of sterilization. Scholars such as Andre Caetano and Joseph E. Potter claim that sterilization has been used as a political means of garnering votes while controlling population growth among poor, minority populations.
is illegal in Brazil except for the case of rape or when the mother’s life is in danger. Though abortions are against the law, it is estimated that over one million abortions are performed in Brazil each year, though data on abortion incidence is not systemically collected. Over two hundred thousand women are treated for abortion complications each year in Brazilian hospitals. The punishment for a woman performing an abortion on herself or consenting to an abortion is one to three years of imprisonment. The punishment for those performing abortions is one to fours years of imprisonment, and this number increases by one-third if harm is caused to the women or one-half if the abortion leads to the death of the woman.
in Brazil have been influenced by both culture and sexual harassment laws, making for a disconnect between official regulations and general attitudes. In a study done by Rebecca Merkin, it was found that unlike their American counterparts, women in Brazil do not express decreased job satisfaction when faced with sexual harassment, illuminating the greater acceptability of sexual harassment in Brazil as compared to the United States. Following the passage of the 1988 Constitution, a law was passed in 1991 outlawing sexual harassment and making it a crime punishable by a fine of up to $20,000. In 2001, a contentious law was passed under the civil code raising the punishment for sexual harassment to one to two years of jail time. Despite the presence of strict regulations, Brazil has one of the worst reputations in the world in terms of the harassment of women in the workplace and in the home. Fiedler and Blanco assert that men rarely follow sexual harassment laws, and that few sexual harassment cases have been brought to trial in Brazil.
is 14, regardless of gender or sexual orientation and any type of sexual activity is permitted after the age of 18. Statutory rape
can only be committed by those above the age of 18, and is punishable by 8 to 15 years imprisonment. However, men who have killed, sexually assaulted, or committed other crimes against women are unlikely to be brought to trial. While no specific laws address sex tourism, it is punishable under other criminal offenses, such as pedophilia and corruption of minors. The government released a "code of conduct to combat sex tourism and sexual exploitation" and conducted campaigns in the most affected areas, which are predominantly in the Northeastern region of the country. The states of Pernambuco, Espirito Santo, Amazonias, Parana and the Federal District enacted laws requiring certain businesses to display signs listing the penalties for having intercourse with a minor.
was not a part of the Brazilian criminal code until 2006, when the federal criminal domestic violence code was passed by President Lula. The Law of Domestic and Family Violence was the first official codification of domestic violence crimes, and tripled the previous punishments associated with domestic violence. Brazil's adoption of the domestic violence code was mainly influenced by its participation in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), the urging of the international legal community, and the tenacity of local grassroots movements. The formation of female police units and a federally funded hotline to serve victims of gender violence have significantly advanced the protections offered to women in Brazil, though domestic violence in Brazil
remains prevalent and thus a major obstacle in attaining equal rights for women.
and socioeconomic inequality. Most of those women involved in the feminist movement of the 1970s were also involved in other political movements, such as the human rights
movement, and the formation of leftist political parties. Hence, the women’s movement in Brazil has often been understood in the larger context of a push towards greater political participation and socioeconomic equality. The Amnesty International movement was one that gained much support from feminists, evident in the establishment of the Feminine Movement for Amnesty of the 1970s. At the same time, feminist movements have attempted to maintain balance between their specific goals and wider political demands.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
have been heavily impacted by the patriarchal traditions of Iberian culture
Culture of Portugal
The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of different civilizations during the past Millennia. From prehistoric cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations , passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world, the Roman period , the...
, which hold women subordinate to men in familial and community relationships. As the largest Roman Catholic nation in the world, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
has also had a significant impact on the perception of women in Brazil, though over the past century the Brazilian government has increasingly broken with the Catholic church in regard to issues related to reproductive rights
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
. Brazil is thought to possess the most organized and effective women's movement in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, with visible gains having been made over the past century to promote and protect the legal and political rights of women. Despite the gains made in women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
over the past century, women in Brazil
Women in Brazil
This article considers the roles and rights of women in Brazil.-Politics and Law:Women in Brazil enjoy the same legal rights and duties as men, what is clearly expressed in the 5th article of Brazil's 1988 Constitution. A cabinet-level office, the Secretariat for Women's Affairs, oversees a special...
still face significant gender inequality
Gender inequality
Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...
, which is most pronounced in the rural areas of Northeastern Brazil. In 2010, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
ranked Brazil 73rd out of 169 nations based on the Gender Inequality Index, which measure women’s disadvantages in the areas of reproductive rights
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
, empowerment
Empowerment
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities...
and economic activity. Women’s movements in Brazil have traditionally been led and supported by upper middle class
Upper middle class
The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
women, and tend to be reformist rather than revolutionary in nature, though clear exceptions exist, most notably with regard to agrarian land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
movements. Though suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
was granted to women in Brazil
Women in Brazil
This article considers the roles and rights of women in Brazil.-Politics and Law:Women in Brazil enjoy the same legal rights and duties as men, what is clearly expressed in the 5th article of Brazil's 1988 Constitution. A cabinet-level office, the Secretariat for Women's Affairs, oversees a special...
in the 1930s, it was not until the 1970s and onwards that a broader, more potent women’s movement took hold in Brazil.
Suffrage movement
Brazil was the fourth country in the world to grant women the right to vote in 1932, following the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. Though a feminist movement had existed in Brazil since the mid-nineteenth century and women did petition for suffrage to be included in the 1891 Republican Constitution
Constitution of Brazil
During its independent political history, Brazil has had seven constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October 5, 1988.-Imperial Constitution :Background...
, the drive towards enfranchisement only began in earnest under the leadership feminist, biologist and lawyer, Bertha Lutz. Following the publication of an article in the Revista da Semana, which called upon women to prove their worthiness to men through their achievements and organize in order to demand the right to vote, various women’s organizations appeared. Lutz founded her own organization in conjunction with American suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt was a women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920...
in 1922, the Brazilian Federation for the Advancement of Women, which would become the leading suffrage organization of Brazil and was affiliated with the International Women's Suffrage Alliance. Brazilian suffragettes were literate, professional women who made up only a small percentage of the female population in Brazil, the latter which remained largely illiterate. Hence, the campaign for suffrage was by no means a mass movement, and was decidedly moderate in nature. The conservative character of the suffrage movement provoked little resistance from government, and suffrage was declared by Getulio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
in 1932 and later confirmed in the 1934 Constitution. Just two years after women’s suffrage was declared in the 5th Constitution of Brazil, two women were elected to Congress, ten females were elected mayors and assemblywomen, and thirty women were made councilwomen in Brazil. Though government jobs had been available to women in the past, women had not held electoral positions until after suffrage was won and the amount of women in governance continued to grow throughout the twentieth century.
5th Constitution of 1934
Appointed by the Provisional Government in 1933 to draft the first page of the new Constitution, Bertha Lutz included various provisions to promote equal rights between men and women. Not only were women granted the equal right to hold government office and earn equal pay for equal workEqual pay for equal work
Equal pay for equal work is the concept that individuals doing the same work should receive the same remuneration. In America, for example, the law states that "employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility,...
, but also were given preference over men in all government jobs dealing with the home, motherhood, children, and working conditions for women. The preferential treatment afforded to women in regard to certain government positions was controversial at the time.
Citizen’s Constitution of 1988
The Citizen’s Constitution declared women equal to men in all legal respects, explicitly stating in Article 5 of Title II that “men and women have equal rights and duties under the terms of this Constitution.”The National Council on Women’s Rights, formed in 1975, advocated successfully on behalf of including gender conscious legislation in the new constitution. At the suggestion of the Council, a clause was added to the document announcing that land distributed by agrarian reformAgrarian reform
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
could be assigned and titled “in the name of the man, woman, or both, independent of civil status.” This was the first time in Brazilian history that women could legally be named beneficiaries of agrarian reform
Agrarian reform
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
measures. The 1988 constitution also declared for the first time that urban and rural women and men had the same rights to social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
benefits. Despite the declaration of such rights, as of 2000, institutions had not been established to enable or enforce gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
in land reform. Furthermore, the Constitution promised "....protection of the labour market for women through specific incentives, as provided by law," and established a minimum required maternity leave of one hundred and twenty days and the introduction of paternity leave.
Property rights
Under the Civil CodeCivil code
A civil code is a systematic collection of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure...
of Brazil, married women could not lawfully acquire or possess their own property until 1962. Presently, inheritance law differs based on matrimonial regimes, of which there are four. Under the full common-property regime, which was inherited from the Portuguese legal tradition
Law of Portugal
The Law of Portugal is the legal system that applies in Portugal. The Portuguese legal system is a civil law or continental legal system, based on Roman law...
, widows do not inherit from husbands unless there are no living children or parents. Under the separation of the profits regime, which is the default regime, widows have the right to one-quarter to one-half their husbands’ estates (depending on the presence of children), yet are not granted ownership rights over any property inherited and automatically loses all privileges if they remarry. This regime has been criticized as positioning widows as mere custodians of property for children, rather than legitimate property owners. Indeed, studies show that a women’s ability to exercise her right to inherited property is largely influenced by whether she is viewed as a potential agriculturalist. Women are often denied access to inherited property because they do not inherit from their fathers and are not recognized as worthy heads of productive units. Though consensual unions were recognized by the 1988 Constitution, women in consensual unions were not endowed with the same inheritance rights as married women until 1994.
With the return to civilian rule in 1985, President José Sarney
José Sarney
José Sarney de Araújo Costa is a Brazilian lawyer, writer and politician. He served as president of Brazil from 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990....
made the more equitable distribution of land one of his attested objectives, issuing a directive to the Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Land Development in 1986 urging that beneficiaries of land be chose “independently of sex.” In conjunction with the democratic opening of the 1980s, a rural women’s movement emerged with calls for inclusion of women in rural unions and guarantee of social security benefits, such as paid maternity leave and retirement pensions, for rural women. The National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG), which is the largest organization of agricultural workers in Brazil, tackled women’s rights for the first time during its fourth congress in 1985, when it decided to extend membership to more women and actively work to end gender discrimination. Demands for more equitable agrarian property rights, championed by organizations such as the Central Worker’s Union, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Women’s Council led to agrarian reform measures in the 1988 Constitution. Grievances still abound regarding equal land distribution in Brazil, evident in the Marcha da Margaridas of 2000, in which over fifteen thousand women marched on the capital to demand joint allocation of land to couples, rather than just men.
Employment and contracts
Though large segments of the female population remained illiterate through the turn of the century, a growing number of middle-class women began to pursue higher education and work outside of the home. Many early female workers found employment in schools, government and commercial offices. The formation of the Union of Professional Women in the 1920s, which embraced university and professional women, played a large role in the suffrage movement. By 1936, over a million Brazilian women worked outside the home, which led to changing perceptions of women’s family roles and a remodeling of the nation’s commercial usages. Despite the growing number of women in the workforce, women's employment remained highly segregated based on perceptions of appropriate work for women. Up until the 1950s, domestic service was the largest category of female employment, with most other women engaged in government bureaucracy, social services, as well as other informal labor. Women’s labor rightsLabor rights
Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers, usually obtained under labor and employment law. In general, these rights' debates have to do with negotiating workers' pay, benefits, and safe...
were not fully addressed until 1978, with the passage of a law declaring that women be paid equally for equal work, which was confirmed in the 1988 Constitution.
Working class women began to organize on behalf of women’s issues in the 1970s. Working class women’s organizations, such as the Housewives’ Association of Sao Paulo and the Mothers’ Club of Sao Paulo, became increasingly important arenas for women to express grievances with regard to informal care work
Care work
Care work is a sub-category of work that includes all tasks that directly involve care processes done in service of others. Oftentimes, it is differentiated from other forms of work because it is intrinsically motivated, meaning that people are motivated to pursue care work for internal reasons,...
and the cost of urban living. Women’s involvement and leadership among unions have been less successful, as is the case in other Latin American countries. The first Congress of Female Metalworkers of Sao Paulo, held in 1978, was harassed and threatened by employers to the extent that only 300 of the 800 women who had signed up actually attended to conference. Current female participation in the labor market is 65 percent for women compared to 85 percent for men. Domestic workers have become increasingly organized through global professional networks and trade unions, though domestic labor remains a significant, and vastly under-regulated, form of work for women.
Prostitution and sex worker’s rights
Though the exchange of money for sex is legal in Brazil, it is illegal to operate a brothel or employ prostitutes and such offenses are punishable by up to five years in jail. ProstitutionProstitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
is not considered a profession and hence sex workers do not have labor rights. Fernando Gabeira, founder of the Green Party
Green Party (Brazil)
The Brazilian Green Party was constituted after the military dictatorship period and, like other Green Parties around the world, is committed to establishing a set of policies on ensuring social-democracy and sustainable development...
, recently introduced a piece of legislation to Congress to establish prostitution as a recognized profession, however the bill was defeated in 2007. The Center for the Study of Prostitution (NEP), which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
(USAID) and Brazil's National Network of Sex Professionals, continues to advocate on behalf of the recognition of prostitution as a profession under standard labor and social security laws. These organizations have played a significant role in public health initiatives aimed at preventing and treating HIV/AIDS. Carmen Lucia Paz, a former prostitute and researcher at NEP, has become one of the most vocal champions of sex worker rights
Sex worker rights
The term sex worker rights encompasses a variety of aims being pursued globally by individuals and organizations that specifically involve the human and labor rights of sex workers....
in Brazil.
Contraception
Until the legalization of contraceptives in the early twentieth century, Brazilian law placed contraceptionContraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
, abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and immorality in the same classification. Three factors that have impacted contraceptive laws on Brazil are the influence of the Catholic Church, the legacy of Iberian culture
Culture of Portugal
The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of different civilizations during the past Millennia. From prehistoric cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations , passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world, the Roman period , the...
, and the historically conservative approach to women’s status in Latin America. The Bem-Estar Familiar no Brasil (BEMFAM), which is funded by the International Planned Parenthood Federation
International Planned Parenthood Federation
The International Planned Parenthood Federation is a global non-governmental organization with the broad aims of promoting sexual and reproductive health, and advocating the right of individuals to make their own choices in family planning. It was first formed in 1952 in Bombay, India, and now...
, is the leading NGO in the country dedicated to family planning. A laissez-faire attitude adopted on the part of the Brazilian government in the 1960s has led to the predominance of private organizations that provide family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
services. The government has taken measure to extend planning to poorer Brazilians by subsidizing birth control pills and sterilization
Sterilization
Sterilization can refer to:* Sterilization , the elimination of microbiological organisms to achieve asepsis, a sterile microbial environment* Sterilisation , a medical technique that intentionally leave a person unable to reproduce...
at government clinics. The current birth rate in Brazil is at a replacement rate of about 2.18 births per woman estimated for the year 2011. Brazil has witnessed one of the most dramatic reductions in family size in modern history due to increased access to contraception over the past decades. Indeed, the fertility rate has been steadily decreasing for over the past four decades due in large part to the use of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion. .
Sterilization has become increasingly popular in Brazil since it became legal and free for women over 25 in 1996, and is regulated by the Health Ministry. It had already been a popular practice among poor communities before the legalization of sterilization, and was practiced in private clinics. In 1994, over sixty percent of women in Goiás
Goiás
Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...
, and over seventy percent of women in Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
and Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
were sterilized. After the 1996 law, sterilization became part of the population control
Population control
Human population control is the practice of artificially altering the rate of growth of a human population.Historically, human population control has been implemented by limiting the population's birth rate, usually by government mandate, and has been undertaken as a response to factors including...
policy of the Brazilian government. Though some view sterilization as an inexpensive form of birth control and a useful tool in population control, others see the mass use of sterilization in Brazil as contrary to promoting women’s choices in contraceptive use. Sterilization is most common among Afro-Brazilians in the Northeast of the country who are too poor to afford other types of contraception and uneducated on the long term consequences of sterilization. Scholars such as Andre Caetano and Joseph E. Potter claim that sterilization has been used as a political means of garnering votes while controlling population growth among poor, minority populations.
Abortion
AbortionAbortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
is illegal in Brazil except for the case of rape or when the mother’s life is in danger. Though abortions are against the law, it is estimated that over one million abortions are performed in Brazil each year, though data on abortion incidence is not systemically collected. Over two hundred thousand women are treated for abortion complications each year in Brazilian hospitals. The punishment for a woman performing an abortion on herself or consenting to an abortion is one to three years of imprisonment. The punishment for those performing abortions is one to fours years of imprisonment, and this number increases by one-third if harm is caused to the women or one-half if the abortion leads to the death of the woman.
Sexual harassment
Views on sexual harassmentSexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
in Brazil have been influenced by both culture and sexual harassment laws, making for a disconnect between official regulations and general attitudes. In a study done by Rebecca Merkin, it was found that unlike their American counterparts, women in Brazil do not express decreased job satisfaction when faced with sexual harassment, illuminating the greater acceptability of sexual harassment in Brazil as compared to the United States. Following the passage of the 1988 Constitution, a law was passed in 1991 outlawing sexual harassment and making it a crime punishable by a fine of up to $20,000. In 2001, a contentious law was passed under the civil code raising the punishment for sexual harassment to one to two years of jail time. Despite the presence of strict regulations, Brazil has one of the worst reputations in the world in terms of the harassment of women in the workplace and in the home. Fiedler and Blanco assert that men rarely follow sexual harassment laws, and that few sexual harassment cases have been brought to trial in Brazil.
Age of consent and statutory rape
The age of consent in BrazilAge of consent in Brazil
The age of consent in Brazil is 14, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, with a close-in-age exception that allows those aged 12 and 13 to engage in sexual activity with partners who are less than 5 years older. The age at which there are no restrictions for sexual activities is 18...
is 14, regardless of gender or sexual orientation and any type of sexual activity is permitted after the age of 18. Statutory rape
Statutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
can only be committed by those above the age of 18, and is punishable by 8 to 15 years imprisonment. However, men who have killed, sexually assaulted, or committed other crimes against women are unlikely to be brought to trial. While no specific laws address sex tourism, it is punishable under other criminal offenses, such as pedophilia and corruption of minors. The government released a "code of conduct to combat sex tourism and sexual exploitation" and conducted campaigns in the most affected areas, which are predominantly in the Northeastern region of the country. The states of Pernambuco, Espirito Santo, Amazonias, Parana and the Federal District enacted laws requiring certain businesses to display signs listing the penalties for having intercourse with a minor.
Domestic violence
Domestic ViolenceDomestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
was not a part of the Brazilian criminal code until 2006, when the federal criminal domestic violence code was passed by President Lula. The Law of Domestic and Family Violence was the first official codification of domestic violence crimes, and tripled the previous punishments associated with domestic violence. Brazil's adoption of the domestic violence code was mainly influenced by its participation in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women is an international convention adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly....
(CEDAW), the urging of the international legal community, and the tenacity of local grassroots movements. The formation of female police units and a federally funded hotline to serve victims of gender violence have significantly advanced the protections offered to women in Brazil, though domestic violence in Brazil
Domestic violence in Brazil
Domestic violence in Brazil is widespread and underreported. Brazilian law prohibits domestic violence, and the government has taken steps that specifically address violence against women and spousal abuse. On August 7, 2006, President Lula signed the Law of Domestic and Family Violence...
remains prevalent and thus a major obstacle in attaining equal rights for women.
Human rights and women’s rights
Women’s rights have long been connected with broader political issues, and demands from women’s groups have often times been articulated within the context of more general social issues related to democratizationDemocratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
and socioeconomic inequality. Most of those women involved in the feminist movement of the 1970s were also involved in other political movements, such as the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
movement, and the formation of leftist political parties. Hence, the women’s movement in Brazil has often been understood in the larger context of a push towards greater political participation and socioeconomic equality. The Amnesty International movement was one that gained much support from feminists, evident in the establishment of the Feminine Movement for Amnesty of the 1970s. At the same time, feminist movements have attempted to maintain balance between their specific goals and wider political demands.
Key activists and organizations
- Nísia FlorestaNísia FlorestaNísia Floresta Brasileira Augusta, pseudony of Dionísia Gonçalves Pinto, was a Brazilian educator, writer, poet and feminist....
- Bertha Lutz
- Brazilian Federation for the Advancement of Women
- Carmen Lucía Paz
- National Council on Women
- Feminine Movement for Amnesty
- Center for the Development of Brazilian Women
- Union of Professional Women
- Brazilian Women’s Center
- Family Welfare in Brazil (BEM-FAM)
- National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG)
- Center for the Study of Prostitution (NEP)
- Brazil's National Network of Sex Professionals