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F.5.b.iii.3.c Brazil

Boldrin, Juliana ; de Moraes, Hermínio Salati Mar ; Silva, Danilo Soares, Participation in Brazilian feminist movements on social networks: a study on the campaign Meu Amigo Secreto (My Secret Santa), Informaçao & Sociedade, Vol. 27, issue 2, 2017, pp. 219-234

Recently, many women’s movements in Brazil sought internet as means of expression and claim, and held campaigns of national and international impact through it, disseminating information using the hashtags #meuamigosecreto (#mysecretsanta) and #meuprimeiroassédio (#myfirstharassment) to denounce situations of various types of harassment they have experienced. The authors of this study aimed to identify which are the elements that influence the intention of women’s participation in online feminist movements by surveying 185 Brazilian women who took part in the #meuamigosecreto campaign. The survey provides relevant information for better understanding of feminist movements online, demonstrating that the participants believe that the campaigns strengthen the feminist movement, assist in raising awareness of men about their macho attitudes, can result in a decrease of cases of violence against women and can contribute to the debate on violence against women.
De Avila, Thiago, Facing domestic violence against women in Brazil: advances and challenges, International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy (IJCJ&SJ),, Vol. 7, issue 2, 2018, pp. 15-29

This article offers a critical overview of the Brazilian legal framework for confronting domestic violence. Intimate partner homicides are epidemic in Brazil: there are four deaths of women per day. In 2006, the Maria da Penha Law (MPL) introduced integrated polices and transformed criminal procedures to deal with the complexities of gender violence. Reforms included the establishment of The House of Brazilian Women, women‐only police stations, specialised courts, intervention orders, interdisciplinary experts, and perpetrator programs. In 2015, a new law established the crime of femicide and was designed to prevent ‘honour killings’ defences in cases of intimate partner homicides and to avoid impunity. Despite the legal reforms, the structure and articulation of the networks of services remains a challenge. The MPL led to great social change in Brazil by raising awareness of violence against women, and facilitating a broader discussion about gender equality.
Jarrin, Alvaro ; Caldwell, Kia Lilly, Beyond #MeToo, Brazilian women rise up against racism and sexism, 12/01/2018,

Examines the emergence of #MeuPrimeiroAssedio (‘My First Harassment’) in Brazil in 2015, aimed at tackling sexual violence but also other social evils. These include mass incarceration, deadly abortion medical neglect, and racism against the large portion of Afro-American women that compose Brazilian society (more than 25%).

See also https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/01/31/brazils-women-violence-begins-home
Paiva, Raquel, #MeToo, feminism and femicide in Brazil, Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture, Vol. 10, issue 3, 2019, pp. 241-255

Paiva analyses the international #MeToo movement from the perspective of the Brazilian feminist movement; its historical approaches and new focus on using social networks. She also interprets #MeToo as one expression of new feminism and the related movements and collectives that stemmed from it. The author finally analyses #EleNão (NotHim) as an offshoot of #MeToo and its failure to prevent the 2018 election of Jair Bolsonaro, who represented misogynist and chauvinist movement in Brazil.
Ribeiro, Valeria, Sexual Harassment and Assault in Domestic Work: An Exploration of Domestic Workers and Union Organizers in Brazil, Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, Vol. 24, issue 2, 2018, pp. 388-405

This article uses interviews with domestic workers and union organizers to investigate this issue in relation to the conditions that characterize domestic work and the racism and sexism in Brazilian society. The author argues that it is closely linked to the country’s slave-owning past and that women’s silence in relation to their experiences of sexual assault should be interpreted as a form of agency and resilience within a broader context of social oppression.
Smith, Christensen, Lingering trauma in Brazil: Police violence against black women, NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol. 50, issue 4, 2018, pp. 369-376

This article points out the necessity of resisting anti-Black women policing practices, and argues that resistance must be organised by rethinking how we understand police violence in relation to the passage of time. Smith makes use of the term sequelae, which indicates ‘a condition that is the consequence of a previous disease’, to help shed light on the effects of police brutality on women, and its medium and long-term effects that are often overlooked. The article recalls four known Black women whose murder prompted vast public outcry - Claudia Silva de Ferreira; Marielle Franco; Luana Barbosa; and Aurina Rodrigues Santana – and articulates how sequelae are the combination of both physical and emotional trauma suffered by Black women.