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Nearly 80% of Brazilians want more women in power
Criado em 09/07/13 19h37
e atualizado em 10/07/13 12h18
Por Carolina Gonçalves
Edição:Nádia Franco / Lícia Marques
Fonte:Agência Brasil
Brasília – An April study called More Women in Politics (“Mais Mulheres Na Política”) conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion (“Ibope”) and the Patrícia Galvão Institute (a Brazilian communications and women's rights organization) asked over 2,000 Brazilians aged 16 and above their views on the participation of women in politics. The survey found that eight out of ten Brazilians – 1,600 of those interviewed – think that party listings for legislative offices on local, state, and federal levels should include the same number of male and female candidates. Most respondents reported household incomes between one and five times the minimum (monthly) wage and 55% said they considered themselves middle class (“classe C”). Over 40% of respondents were in the Southeast region, the richest and most populated in the country.
A majority of respondents (over 1,400) was favorable to changing electoral laws so women would make up half the number of candidates running for competitive office. Under current law, 30% of party names on a ballot are reserved for female candidates. However, only 10% of the advertising time is reserved for gender quotas.
In the Senate, only 13 out of the 81 seats are occupied by women (currently only eight of them are actively working as senators). Only one of the 11 senate commissions is headed by a female senator. In the Chamber of Deputies, out of 513 seats, 44 are occupied by women, and only one permanent commission has a female chairperson. Around the country, women make up as little as 10% of the mayors and 12% of the members of local councils.
The director of the Patrícia Galvão Institute, Fátima Pacheco Jordão, is a member of a Brazilian women's rights activist group (“Articulação de Mulheres Brasileiras”). She declared: “Brazil is in 121st place in a ranking of 189 countries based on female participation in politics. This figure shows that Brazil is behind such countries as Iraq and Afghanistan when it comes to women holding office. If you look at other areas of life, such as soccer or economics, Brazil has a much less shameful ranking. If we don't take action to change this, it will take us 150 years to catch up. That's 15 generations”.
The chief of the Secretariat of Social Communication (“Secom”), the presidential press office, minister Helena Chagas, pointed out that the survey took place a few months before the wave of protests that swept through the streets of the country: “It's astonishing to see how under-represented women are in the political institutions of this country. The survey showed that all respondents are aware that the political representation in the country does not reflect the social mix.” Chagas went on to emphasize that while females make up 52% of Brazil's population, “...and women have risen to occupy a significant share of the labor market and positions in NGOs (expecially in social movements, for example), this stronger presence is not reflected in the Congress."
According to the minister for Women's Affairs, Eleonora Menicucci, “The survey shows clearly that there's no democratic process without gender democracy and female participation.” She added that the government's proposal for a plebiscite on political reform could be used as a tool to change the current scenario. “Our vision is a society that would evolve from a representative democracy to become a participatory democracy,” she concluded.
Edition: Nádia Franco / Lícia Marques
Translation: Mayra Borges / Allen Bennett
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