black women are the main victims of femicide in the country
Black Women Alliance For the End of Violence brings together activists to debate strategies for confronting violence.
At least one person called the police emergency number per minute in 2021 to report cases of domestic violence. The data comes from the Brazilian Public Safety Yearbook released this year and show that if women are the main victims of this type of crime, black women suffer even more. According to the survey, 62% of femicide victims in Brazil are black. When looking at victims of other types of violent murder, this rate rises to 70%.
In the month of July, when the International Day of Black Latin American and Caribbean Women is celebrated, various actions and movements are being organized to draw attention to the issue of race and gender. One of these took place in Rio de Janeiro, where 16 groups and organizations led by black women from all over the country met for four days to discuss strategies for confronting racial violence.
The meeting, organized by ELAS+, Brazil's first independent women's fund, is part of the call for proposals "Black Women Alliance" - which proposes the formation of a large network to end violence. "The challenge is, over three years, to build a strong response against the naturalization of racial violence in Brazil. We are trying to thicken the broth to strengthen this agenda aimed at ending the genocide of the black population, combating violence against black women and black trans people, as well as strengthening anti-racial violence communication" - explains K.K Verdade, Executive Director of ELAS+.
Facing the statistics and organizing resistance movements, however, cannot only be the task of those who are already victims of aggression. Liz Guimarães, a representative of the Network of black women Evangelicals, took part in the meeting and pointed out that the whole of society needs to be involved. "It is imperative that white people commit to reparations, a commitment to seek out and act against the damage caused," she said. A member of the Articulation of black women Brasileiras, Cleide Resende also made a point of emphasizing the importance of receiving support in the struggle. "When people call us warriors I get worried. We're not warriors. We resist, but we also die for resisting," she emphasized.
Issues of incarceration and violence against family members of people in prison were also discussed. Data from the National Prison Monitoring Databasemaintained by the National Council of Justice, show that Brazil has more than 910,000 people living in deprivation of liberty. And the Brazilian Yearbook of Public Security reveals that the majority, 67%, are black people. As you can see, the Brazilian prison system also places black women, mothers and partners of prisoners, in a situation of social vulnerability. In addition, the number of women prisoners is growing. The Public Security survey points out that, between 2020 and 2021, there was an increase of more than 20% in the number of women in prison. Mostly for crimes committed without violence.
Problems such as lack of access to health care, inadequate sanitary conditions and hunger itself were also highlighted. A member of Rede-SANS (Network for the Defense and Promotion of Healthy, Adequate and Solidarity Food), Luiza Cavalcante recalled, during the meeting of grantees by the public notice Black Women Alliancethat social misery must be considered a form of violence. "Fighting hunger is also fighting violence. We need to guarantee healthy food and strengthen the health of the black population," she said.