Ministry of Women (Brazil)

In 2003, under the first Lula da Silva administration, the National Secretariat of Politics for Women was established as a child agency to the Presidency of the Republic, with Nicéa Freire as chief minister.^[6] With principal advisors to the President, the secretariat for women started the 180 Hotline in 2005, and sanctioned the Maria de Penha Law on August 7, 2006.^[2] The Ministry held a fundamental role in the most recent federal strategy, The National Pact Against Femicide. Aiming to protect vulnerable women to risk of gender based violence,^[7] the Ministry worked alongside the First Lady to unite all three branches of government. The National Pact Against Femicide maintains goals of "promoting equal treatment between men and women, combating structural sexism, and incorporating responses to new challenges, such as digital violence against women".^[8] This is displayed in its focus on marginalized communities who are at higher risk of gendered violence, including indigenous, black, and rural women.^[9]

Sparking the beginning of various services provided by the Ministry, the National Secretariat of Politics for Women initially aimed to elevate Brazilian women’s status by implementing and integrating public policies in an attempt to reduce gender inequalities within the nation.^[10] When promoted to cabinet level in 2010,^[11] the department began acting in three fronts: Policies of Labour and Economic Autonomy of Women, Fight against Violence against Women, and programs and acts in the areas of health, education, culture, political participation, gender equality, and diversity.

In 2019, the Secretariat merged with the Ministry of Human Rights, forming the Ministry of Woman, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH). This merger brought complications regarding the institutionalization of social justice, introducing a variation of goals and ideological redirection.^[5] The Ministry’s focus on conservative family values had repercussions against the progression of women's rights, often leaving women vulnerable and unprotected in situations such as hunger, domestic violence, and the loss of income and rights.^[5] This era of bureaucratic involvement has often been referred to as the 'dismantling of women's rights', with institutional impairments for women such as eliminating the intersectional strategy, minimizing spaces for discourse and democratic participation, and the limiting and controlling the progression of gender concepts and definitions.^[5] With a focus on more conservative ideas of family and gender roles, the MMFDH’s calculated budget cuts highlighted the lack of care towards women's rights or human rights,^[12] and instead intended to distract from the government's underlying economic agenda.^[13] Analysis has provided scholars with evidence to claim that the MMFDH has enacted efforts and policies to uphold and strengthen patriarchal family structures while simultaneously combating feminist and LGBTQ movements.^[14]

With the end of Jair Bolsonaro's presidency and the election of Lula da Silva, the MMFDH was dismantled, replaced by the active Ministry of Women in 2023.

Broken into three Secretariats and a Council for Women's Rights,^[5] the Ministry of Women is able to organize and arrange its focus among a variety of issues that Brazil face.

Considering intersectional backgrounds and diversity of identities, the National Secretariat (Portuguese: Secretaria Nacional de Articulação Institucional, Ações Temáticas e Participação Política) organizes the creation and implementation of policies for women, with a focus on education, culture, health, and political participation.^[15]

The Secretariat (Portuguese: Secretaria Nacional de Enfrentamento à Violência contra as Mulheres) focuses on prevention and penalization of domestic and sexual violence, coordinating specialized, multifaceted care networks throughout the country that work to address Brazil's compounding issue of violence against women.^[16]

Responsible for creating, distributing, and analyzing cross-sectional studies, projects, and research, the Secretariat for Autonomy, Economy, and Care Policy (Portuguese: Secretaria de Autonomia, Ecônomia e Política de Cuidados) provides national policies that aim to reduce women’s workload and sacrifice.^[17]

Established in 1985, the council (Portuguese: Conselho Nacional pelos Direitos das Mulheres) "aims to promote national policies directed to women using a gender perspective... to eliminate prejudice and discrimination, including in economic and financial affairs, and extend the process of social control over such policies".^[18]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Launched in 2005, Dial 180 is a free phone service that gives women the option to report instances of gender based violence. In attempt to minimize and eventually prevent the prevalent issue of violence against women, Dial 180 provides information on women's rights, and has services and sources to refer women to for support and assistance.^[19] Restructured with the Ministry in 2023, the service has worked to increase accessibility, implementing discreet services within WhatsApp, improving its referral network into a single database, and specializing assistance to a more humanized experience,^[19] Since it's refurbishment, Dial 180 has increased its outreach up 23% between 2022 and 2023, averaging 1,558 calls per day.^[5]

In 2015, the federal government and the secretariat organized and coordinated the Brazilian Woman's House (Portuguese: Casa da Mulher Brasileira)--a part of the program "Woman, Live without Violence".^[20] The program aims to facilitate the access to public services that guarantee the fight against domestic violence and aid women's economic autonomy.^[21] The program grants victims of domestic violence centralized and humanized care in the forms of immediate protection, psychosocial support, specialized police and legal aid, economic autonomy programs, and temporary accommodation.^[5] These resources and active combative tactics working to reduce violence and foster economic independence among Brazilian women.

On August 7th, 2006, the Brazilian government adopted the Maria da Penha Law to protect women from cases of domestic and family violence.^[2] The Ministry of Women assisted in drafting, promoting, and enforcing the law, as an act towards the illegalization of violence against women. Amended in 2018 with legislative acts, the law now requires aggressors to reimburse the Unified Health System for any expenses caused by their violence, including safety devices that help monitor the victims.^[2] This law was sparked by the violence enacted against Maria da Penha by her husband, leaving her paraplegic for life.^[22] With this law, it "establishes special courts and stricter sentences for offenders, but also other instruments for the prevention and relief in cities of more than 60,000 inhabitants, such as police stations and shelters for women."^[22] With the establishment of this law, Brazil has seen stricter punishments for aggressors, more intent care and quicker action regarding legal procedures, and specialized support services for victims.^[23]

Established by the Ministry of Education in 2011, Thousand Women (Portuguese: Mulheres Mil) provides female domestic workers with Federal Institute training courses to ensure professional qualification and citizenship training to increase education and promote productive placement and mobility within the workplace.^[5] Mulheres Mil provides vulnerable women with courses on labor and social rights, gender and race inequalities, care economy, digital inclusion, and content recomposition.^[5]

Established in August 16, 2023 in response to the female mobilization Marcha das Magaridas, Productive Backyards (Portuguese: Quintas Produtivos) was created and managed by women seeking food production in rural Brazilian areas. Assisting rural women's agricultural production, the program provides funding, technical assistance, cisterns and commercialization to rural communities and food deserts throughout the nation.^[5] The program aims to "promote the economic autonomy of rural women and expand access to public policies that support the production and commercialization of food and to social technologies for access to drinking water..."^[5]

Located in 11 states,^[5] reference centers (Portuguese: Centros de Referência) throughout Brazil assist women in situations of sexual, physical, and psychological violence, whether repeated or sporadic. The centers offer women guidance regarding rights and promotion of citizenship, working via global action and interdisciplinary care, in efforts to provide women with foundational knowledge and active steps to protect against scenarios of gender based violence.^[5]