Lula da Silva – Inclusion Policies and Expanded Human Rights
Brazilian President Lula Da Silva recently presented a bill in Congress to declare Marielle Franco National Day to be commemorated every March 14. On that date in 2018, Marielle Franco da Silva and her driver Anderson Gomes were murdered in the state of Rio de Janeiro. They were leaving an event focused on empowerment of black women when a car ambushed them. 14 bullets were shot; nothing was robbed.
“Woman, black, from the favela, Human Rights defender.” That is how Marielle Franco defined herself in social media.
Maré, a complex of favelas where Franco grew up has a population of almost 140,000 and some of the worst human development indexes in Rio.
Marielle Franco was a Brazilian politician, sociologist, feminist, socialist and human rights activist. She served as a City Councillor in the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro for the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) from January 2017 until her death and was a probable candidate for Vice Governor of Rio de Janeiro that same year.
Franco fought, not just against police brutality, but for broader equality and empowerment of women and black people throughout Brazil. She was well known for her criticism of the way the Brazilian government managed violence, the military police intervention in Rio’s security and for her defense of black women.
It is still unknown who ordered Marielle’s death and why. There are various theories suggesting a very well planned ambush and the participation of powerful actors.
Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, has ordered the Rio de Janeiro police to speed up the investigations that could lead to finding the culprits of the assassination.
The announcement of the Marielle Franco National Day bill was celebrated by Monica Benicio, Marielle´s Widow:
“I am excited!!! Lula’s government has just proposed to Congress the creation of National Marielle Franco Day, March 14. It will be a day of confrontation against gender and racial violence in politics. It will be a day in honor and memory of her.”
Estou emocionada!!! O governo Lula acaba de propor ao Congresso a criação do Dia Nacional Marielle Franco, 14 de Março. Será um dia de enfrentamento às violências de gênero e raciais na política. Será um dia em honra e memória à ela. ?
— Monica Benicio ???? (@monica_benicio) March 8, 2023
Marielle’s death was news all over the world. The days following her murder, tens of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of Brazil’s main cities. Still today there is a claim for justice looking to keep her legacy alive.
She was internationally recognized by Amnesty International and other NGO´s for her projects defending the rights of the LGBTI community and those of black women living in the favelas.
Other Measures
The Commemoration of Marielle Franco National Day is part of several other recent initiatives by the Brazilian government oriented to enhance the rights of women and vulnerable communities with public policies to face violence against women and to promote gender equality, economic autonomy and integral health for women.
Equal Pay
Another proposal by Lula da Silva is a bill to be sent to the National Congress with the objective of promoting equal salary between men and women that do the same tasks. There is currently a 22% difference in favor of men according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
“When we accept that women earn less than men for doing the same tasks, we perpetuate a historical violence against them,” Lula da Silva.
The law includes measures to make companies more transparent and to strengthen processes.
“We have 11 women at the front of ministries, but all ministries and each of its members are responsible for policies and actions directed to women,” said Lula.
Free Tampons & Pads
There was also a decree signed to allow for distribution of free tampons and pads. According to the Ministry of Health, almost 85 million dollars a year will be destined to this program which will benefit around 8 million people that menstruate.
Formalizing Decrees
Lula also signed decrees and other documents that formalize different actions: Vacancies in professional courses aimed at 20 thousand women in situation of vulnerability for the next 2 years; a 2.4-million-dollar investment for cultural projects; an incentive for young women to study careers in science, technology and innovation; the relaunch of the Food Acquisition Program (Programa de Adquisición de Alimentos: PAA) to strengthen family agriculture and guarantee of food security for the Brazilian population.
Diversity & Inclusion
The latest decree requires that at least 30 percent of appointed positions in Brazil’s federal government must be occupied by black and mixed-race people. Lula had promised at the beginning of his presidency to make efforts so that his government would have “the face of Brazilian society,” mostly black and mixed race.
Brazil, the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery has the largest black population outside of Africa.
“Racism is the root of inequality, that is why we must fight against it like a plague in a plantation,” said Lula in Brasilia when he signed this decree.
View this post on Instagram
Public communication of this decree was made at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia in the presence of Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco, Marielle Franco’s sister.
Brazilian Activist Jessica Ferreira Silva de Souza
“First, I want to say, it is a very big responsibility to talk about the persona that was Marielle. And I get very emotional talking about the person she was, because she was a sociologist, politician, feminist, activist and she also represented a lot of the LGBTQIA+ community and especially peripheral women. So, when you make this cut, it is absurd to see how marginalized these people are,” Jessica Ferreira Silva de Souza told Latina Republic during a recent interview.
“Unfortunately for those of us who lost her there was great pain and her death caused a commotion among people who were outraged by such a crazy act of killing a person at close range and getting away with it.
This hatred, the unrest with what has been done to her, created large movements of people becoming aware of this.
Much like what happened with George Floyd, where people took the pain, the whole country, other countries took this pain and created movements to confront this violence.
Today we have Marielle’s younger sister, Anielle Franco, who is working precisely against the violence against women that we here in Brazil are talking about,” Jessica shared.
The Brazilian activist spoke with Latina Republic about Marielle Franco, her views on the current situation of black women and other vulnerable collectives and the perspectives of the decisions taken by the government to confront this reality.
On Single Motherhood, Black Women and Entrepreneurship in Brazil
Jessica Ferreira Silva de Souza is 37 years old. She was born in São Paulo, in the capital. Jessica has a degree in Administration and Logistics, a post-graduate degree in Business Management, and she is studying Philosophy of Education with the intention to teach philosophy in the near future.
The activist is “very engaged in social causes, especially in women and ethnic causes, mainly in the Afro-descendant area, and also in the indigenous or native peoples.”
“I am a single mother, which is very common here in our country. Black women who take care of their children alone. And I really like to engage in issues that involve the women’s movement occupying spaces and especially women who are black, brown, from the peripheries, who are trying to move and occupy more decision-making spaces,” she told Latina Republic.
Silva de Souza is dedicated to the advocacy of the women’s movement and black and brown people, “especially these two.” She describes that in Brazil, “we are a little more than 210 million people. Most of the population, 56% is declared as black or brown. So, a little over 100 million people are black or brown. And of these 200 in total, more than 50% are women. But black women, which are most of the population, these women are always occupying the same spaces that are underemployed.”
The challenge is that, “she will be a maid, she will be a cleaner, she will be a child caretaker. Little do you see these women moving into leadership positions,” she describes.
“So, basically, my advocacy is to promote occupation of the decision-making spaces, like in politics, like hiring positions within companies and in entrepreneurship, since black women are the biggest niche of women entrepreneurs, but they don’t occupy these spaces within the company.
When you look at the numbers in entrepreneurship, women are black women, primarily. They are the people who do the most entrepreneurship in the country, precisely because they have no space within the corporation, within politics or public services in general.
And it’s not an entrepreneurship because they like to be an entrepreneur.
It is survival entrepreneurship.
She needs to be entrepreneurial in order to survive,” tells de Souza.
Watch the Interview to learn more about Brazilian black women’s current struggles, the memory of Marielle, and the way forward:
Ramiro Pozzo | Journalist, Argentina Born in Santa Fe, Argentina in 1971, Ramiro was exiled to the United States during Argentina’s last military dictatorship. He lived with his family in Minnesota until 1987. Once back in Argentina, he played in the lower divisions of the local soccer team. In 1997, he graduated as a bioengineer. In 2022, he graduated as a journalist. Currently, he offers training and remote technical support for medical equipment for GE Healthcare. He writes articles in English and Spanish as an independent journalist. Ramiro is a member of the Human Rights Group @HijaseHijosdel Exilio. He can be contacted at [email protected]; @ramiropozzo.
