Interview with Yasmin Morais, founder of project Vulva Negra

Interview with Yasmin Morais, founder of project Vulva Negra.

Scroll down for the Portuguese version. This is then followed by a Manifesto written by two Brazilian feminist collectives - Matria and Raízes Feministas - in response to the backlash on women's rights currently in place.

Yasmin Morais at at Vulva Negra meeting- image courtesy of Vulva Negra, photographer Ale Anselmi

Yasmin Morais is an award-winning writer, actress, columnist, international speaker and digital creator. She has had works published in literary collections and in 2021 she became a Frontliner at We Are Family Foundation and a UNICEF Volunteer. Yasmin was a panellist at FiLiA in 2022 on the main stage and represented Brazil at the Women Deliver conference in 2023 as a sponsored delegate. She published her first solo book Romãs Incandescentes no Inverno in 2022. Currently, Yasmin travels around Brazil and the world with her itinerant lectures at the Encontro Feminista Vulva Negra (Vulva Negra Feminist Meeting).

In this interview, Andreia Nobre (journalist and writer, QG Feminista/4W and author of the Grumpy Guide to Radical Feminism and of the report Sex-Based Oppression of Women and Girls in the 21st Century) talks to Yasmin Morais about the many pressing issues currently affecting Brazilian women, including femicide, domestic violence and the plight of black and brown women in a Latin American country, despite the country having been under a leftist government since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected for office in 2022 for the third time.

Male violence against women in Brazil ‒ an overview

Yasmin Morais, founder of project Vulva Negra, speaks to Andreia Nobre for FiLiA about the political status of women in Brazil in 2024, a country where abortions are still criminalised and violence against women is rife. After four years of a conservative government under Bolsonaro, will a leftist government take decisive steps to improve women’s lives and punish structural sexism?

Andreia: Yasmin, I would like to thank you for speaking to me recently about the main issues affecting women in Brazil at this moment. Brazil has a startling rate of femicide, sexual violence, domestic abuse. We now have again in office a leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In the last year of Bolsonaro’s government, 2022, Brazil broke a record for femicides, with one woman killed every six hours ‒ a rise of 5%. Is the current Brazilian government acting to fight against it?

Yasmin: From 2018 to 2022, Brazil went through a politically dark period in which the government was extremely right-wing and actively sought to undermine the guaranteed rights of women, Black people and other political minorities. However, it must be emphasised that there has never been a period in which misogynistic and racist thinking was vehemently repudiated in the country’s history. Despite the progress made by the progressive left since President Lula’s third election, Brazil continues to lead the statistics on violence against women, rape and other violations against minorities.

Brazil’s issues are structural, as they began with the colonisation and enslavement of people from Africa. The slave-owning, socially hierarchical and misogynistic logic is intertwined in the country’s roots. An active commitment to combating these perspectives is necessary, with focus on public policies aimed at education, combating rape culture, and discussing the structural problems that lead to these pernicious scenarios for women, rather than just trying to solve the surface issues.

However, we have also seen some essential advances in recent years, such as the criminalisation of psychological violence and a new government programme that distributes free sanitary pads to women in vulnerable situations. In addition, we have also seen the approval of a social rent program for women fleeing domestic violence.

Andreia: Of the 33 million people who go hungry in Brazil, 80% are women and the vast majority are single and Black mothers. The congress approved a bill to guarantee equality of salary and remuneration criteria between male and female workers in the same functions and reinstated the Bolsa Familia program, is it going to be enough?

Yasmin: In Brazil, Black women have been at the bottom of society since its foundation. After the abolition of slavery in 1888, there were no policies to give Black people reparations, nor did they have immediate access to employment or ownership of property and land. In addition, in the years that followed, the country adopted a policy of hiring European and Asian immigrants, so as not to have to offer better living conditions or employment to people of African descent, culminating in social exclusion that led them to live in precarious areas such as favelas or the farms of exploiters of manual labour in the countryside.

Unfortunately, because of Brazil’s racist history, Black people found themselves helpless after the abolition of slavery, being driven into new forms of subordination.

One of the reasons why Black women are at the bottom of the pyramid is because of the intersection of two specific oppressions, racial and sexual. Because of the low purchasing power of Black families in Brazil, many racialised girls grow up in a situation of social vulnerability, being vulnerable to sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy. The vulnerability of these girls tends to be exploited by men who, after getting them pregnant, abandon them.

This feeds a cycle of poverty in which peripheral Black girls and young women are prevented from rising economically not only because of the social abyss that exists in Brazil but also because of the lack of sex education and access to contraceptive methods. Much is said about the crucial role of education, but little is said about the fact that the majority of men who get teenagers pregnant in vulnerable situations are adults. The problem is structural and is mainly due to the modus operandi in which adult men take advantage of the vulnerability of teenagers and believe in their continual impunity.

Programmes like Bolsa Família help many single-parent families in Brazil. However, we need more in-depth policies that not only meet the urgent demands of this population but also build a scenario in which these girls and women have a real chance of social advancement through education and full sexual and reproductive rights.

Andreia: You held a recent event with your project, Vulva Negra. In Brazil, most of the women affected by male violence and structural oppression are Black in all statistics, what needs to be done to start tackling this issue?

Yasmin: Oh, yes. I’ve been organising face-to-face events with the Vulva Negra project since 2022. In December 2022, we held our first Encontro Feminista Vulva Negra (Vulva Negra Feminist Meeting) in Porto, Portugal. Since then, I’ve returned to Brazil and we’ve been holding events in the country’s capitals, addressing feminist themes, focusing on women’s rights, anti-racism and women’s political organisation.

At the end of 2023, I organised the first edition of the Vulva Negra Festival, an event with conversation circles, musical attractions and raffles for the feminist community. The first edition was in honour of the fifth anniversary of the Vulva Negra project.

In recent years, I’ve been committed to holding face-to-face events because it’s important to address issues in favour of women’s rights beyond social media and the internet. When I was in the UK in 2022 to speak at the ‘Sisterhood is Global’ panel at the FiLiA Conference, the atmosphere and the welcoming of British women inspired me.

When I founded Vulva Negra in 2018, one of my biggest dreams was to bring the material feminist approach to the lives of Black women so that we could discuss in greater depth the historical roots of the violence we suffer. Unfortunately, I see a great tendency on the Brazilian left to try to tackle problems on the surface instead of deepening the debates and starting to ask the right questions.

People have much to say about the advances we have experienced during progressive governments but few talk about how men have become increasingly aggressive and reactive as women have come to occupy better spaces in Brazilian society.

For example, at this year’s Salvador Carnival, three gang rapes were recorded, as well as other violence against women. Even though the government supports campaigns such as ‘Não é Não’ (an awareness campaign against harassment at Carnival), I feel that they are still just scratching the surface ‒ because one of the reasons why men become more violent against women during periods such as Carnival is precisely as a method of punishing the fact that these women are exercising their sexualities without conservative scrutiny.

Men have historically used rape as a tactic to punish women they consider deviant to maintain collective control through fear and sexual terrorism. If we don’t talk about it, we won’t make real and lasting progress.

Andreia: Parental alienation is still a law in Brazil, despite the case of Ana Hickmann, a TV presenter who was physically assaulted by her ex-husband. Hickmann has now been accused by her ex-husband of parental alienation. Are you aware of a public outcry to finally revoke the Parental Alienation law, especially from organised women’s groups such as CPI Voz Materna (Maternal Voices)?

Yasmin: Unfortunately, few organisations in Brazil are taking action against the Parental Alienation Law. It’s because few people are aware of the history of the founding of the parental alienation theory in Brazil and also because of the patriarchal bias in the enforcement of laws, with many believing that women use accusations of sexual abuse or mistreatment to harm their ex-husbands.

In this context, we realise the importance of the discourse that is built around women because Brazil is a country that tops the rates of femicide and sexual exploitation in South America. People continue to believe in the myth of ‘false accusations of rape’ and reject women who seek to protect their children.

However, we need to shine a light on the women who are bravely fighting to bring knowledge of the Parental Alienation Law to Brazil. In general, materialist feminist women are at the forefront of numerous social agendas in Brazil, such as the repeal of the Parental Alienation Law, the return to issues of menstrual dignity, compulsory maternity, and the exploitation of women’s domestic work ‒ especially that of racialised women.

Andreia: With rising incidents of domestic violence, is the Maria da Penha Law working in Brazil? What do you think of the recent law approved by the Brazilian government to give financial help for women fleeing DV to pay for rent?

Yasmin: The Maria da Penha Law, as well as the creation of Women’s Police Stations, were essential public policies for tackling domestic violence suffered by women in Brazil. However, it must be pointed out that even though 377,000 protection measures had been put in place by 22nd October, 2023, the increase in violence against women continues in the country.

According to data from the 10th edition of the National Survey on Violence against Women, released by the DataSenado Institute in partnership with the Observatory of Women against Violence, 74% of Brazilian women perceived an increase in domestic and family violence in 2023.

Within these issues, we still need to emphasise that in practice, the law works differently for upper-class and lower-class women, and there is also a difference based on the ethnicity of the women who bring the law into play. Because they are in more vulnerable conditions (such as poverty), Black and racialized women in general tend to have a higher level of recurrence in abusive relationships, in addition to the fact that in many cases the protective measures are not respected by the aggressors.

As for the financial help offered by the government, any kind of legal effort to ensure that women who are victims of aggression have access to socio-economic support should be viewed favourably, since poverty or the risk of economic vulnerability is one of the preponderant factors in women remaining in abusive homes.

After all, when we talk about the cycle of violence, we are directly addressing the stance of aggressors who undermine women’s social and working lives, preventing them from creating support networks or staying in their jobs. Historically, men have worked to keep women in a situation of economic vulnerability because they know that this facilitates access to their bodies and lives.

Andreia: What is the importance of the female collective abroad in building international solidarity and connections with Brazilian collectives, groups and associations?

Yasmin: The persecution of feminists has increased all over the world. People everywhere are trying to silence us through false accusations, reputational assassinations and sabotage. In a scenario like this, keeping us isolated, without connecting, only serves to weaken us collectively. Building solidarity that transcends barriers of nationality, ethnicity and economic class is essential if women are to continue advancing in terms of guaranteed rights.

Brazilian women have a lot to add to the international debate, both through the knowledge built up by Black and indigenous women, as well as through the powerful history of feminist theory in Brazil, with great names emerging here such as Lélia Gonzalez, who addressed issues around concepts such as intersectionality even before it was coined in the United States.

In recent months, Brazil has faced a wave of lesbophobic attacks against lesbian and bisexual women, culminating in the cruel murder of young women like Ana Caroline Campêlo and violence against other young lesbians. On 18th December 2023, we began our march in the streets for justice for Ana Caroline and all the lesbian women who have been victimised in Brazil in recent years. I was at the first protest in Brazil, in São Paulo.

Throughout December and January, several other protests took place across Brazil and also in other countries, such as France. The suspect in Ana Caroline’s murder was brought to justice in January.

We need to unite and leave behind practices such as racism, colonialism, xenophobia, lesbophobia and so many other structures that prevent us from building a solid and effective sisterhood to combat patriarchal advances. We need to do this for ourselves; we need to do this for those yet to come.

More about the Vulva Negra project can be found HERE and HERE. 

A Vulva Negra meeting - image courtesy of Vulva Negra, photographer Ale Anselmi

Entrevista com Yasmin Morais, fundadora do projeto Vulva Negra

Yasmin Morais é uma premiada escritora, atriz, colunista, palestrante internacional e criadora digital. Tem obras publicadas em coleções literárias, tornou-se Frontliner 2021 na We Are Family Foundation e Voluntária do UNICEF, foi painelista da FiLia em 2022 no palco principal e representou o Brasil na conferência Women Deliver 2023 como delegada patrocinada.

Publicou seu primeiro livro solo "Romãs Incandescentes no Inverno" em 2022. Atualmente, Yasmin viaja pelo Brasil e pelo mundo com suas palestras itinerantes no “Encontro Feminista Vulva Negra”.

Violência masculina contra mulheres no Brasil - um contexto geral

Yasmin Morais, fundadora do projeto Vulva Negra, falou com Andreia Nobre para o blog da FiLiA sobre o estatus político das mulheres no Brasil em 2024, um país onde o aborto ainda é criminalisado, e a violência contra as mulheres generelaisada. Após quatro anos de um governo conservador com Bolsonaro, há esperança de que um governo de esquerda tome passos decisivos para melhorar a vida das mulheres e punir machismo e sexismo estrutural?

Andreia: Yasmin, gostaria de agradecer você por falar comigo recentemente acerca das principais questões que afetam mulheres no Brasil nesse momento. O Brasil tem altas taxas de feminicídio, violência sexual, abuso doméstico. Temos novamente um presidente de esquerda, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. No último ano do governo de Bolsonaro, 2022, o Brasil bateu o recorde de feminicídios, com uma mulher assassinada a cada seis horas - um aumento de 5%. O atual governo brasileiro está agindo de fato para resolver essa situação?

Yasmin: Durante os anos de 2018 a 2022, o Brasil viveu um período politicamente sombrio, no qual o governo vigente era de extrema direita e buscava minar os direitos garantidos de mulheres, negros e outras minorias políticas ativamente. Entretanto, é preciso frisar que jamais houve um período no qual o pensamento misógino e racista fosse repudiado com veemência na história do país. Apesar dos avanços da esquerda progressista desde a terceira eleição do presidente Lula, o Brasil segue encabeçando índices de violência contra a mulher, estupros e demais violações às minorias.

Pois, os problemas do Brasil são de ordem estrutural, se tratando este de um país que foi fundado a partir da colonização e escravização de pessoas vindas da África. A lógica escravocrata, socialmente hierárquica e misógina está entrelaçada nas raízes do país, se faz necessário um compromisso ativo de combate à essas perspectivas, com especial foco em políticas públicas que visem a educação, o combate à cultura do estupro e a discussão dos problemas estruturais que levam à esses cenários perniciosos para mulheres, ao invés de tentar resolver apenas as questões da superfície.

Porém, também tivemos alguns avanços essenciais nos últimos anos, como a criminalização da violência psicológica e um novo programa do governo que distribui absorventes gratuitos para mulheres em situação de vulnerabilidade. Além disso, também tivemos a aprovação de um programa de aluguel social para mulheres fugindo da violência doméstica.

Andreia: Dos 33 milhões de pessoas que passam fome no Brasil, 80% são mulheres e a vasta maioria são mães solo que são negras. O Congresso aprovou uma lei para garantir igualdade salarial e critérios de remuneração entre trabalhadores do sexo feminino e do sexo masculino nas mesmas funções, e reinstituiu o programa Bolsa Família. Isso vai ser o suficiente?

Yasmin: No Brasil, mulheres negras estão nas bases da sociedade desde a sua fundação. Após os processos de abolição da escravatura no ano de 1888, pessoas negras não receberam políticas de reparação e nem tiveram acesso imediato à empregabilidade ou à posse de bens e terras. Além disso, nos anos que se sucederam, o país passou a adotar uma política de contratação de imigrantes europeus e asiáticos, a fim de não precisar oferecer melhores condições de vida ou empregabilidade aos afrodescendentes, culminando em uma exclusão social que os conduziu a viver em áreas precarizadas como as favelas ou as fazendas de exploradores do trabalho braçal no campo.

Infelizmente, dado histórico racista no Brasil, pessoas negras se viram completamente desamparadas após a abolição da escravidão, sendo conduzidas à novas formas de subalternidade.

Uma das razões pelas quais mulheres negras estão na base da pirâmide, se dá por conta do cruzamento de duas opressões específicas, a racial e a sexual. Pois, em razão do baixo poder aquisitivo das famílias negras do Brasil, muitas meninas racializadas crescem em situação de vulnerabilidade social, estando vulneráveis a abusos sexuais e à gravidez na adolescência. A vulnerabilidade dessas meninas tende a ser explorada por homens que, após engravidá-las, as abandonam.

Alimentando desta forma um ciclo de pobreza no qual meninas e jovens negras periféricas têm a sua ascensão econômica barrada não apenas por conta do abismo social que existe no Brasil, mas também por conta da falta de educação sexual e acesso aos métodos contraceptivos. Muito se fala a respeito do papel crucial da educação, mas pouco se fala que a maioria dos homens que engravidam adolescentes em situação de vulnerabilidade, são adultos. O problema é estrutural e se dá, sobretudo, por conta do modus operandi no qual homens adultos se aproveitam da vulnerabilidade de adolescentes e creem na constante impunidade.

Programas como o Bolsa Família auxiliam diversas famílias monoparentais no Brasil. Contudo, precisamos de políticas mais profundas e que não se mantenham apenas para atender as demandas urgentes dessa população, mas também para construir um cenário no qual essas meninas e mulheres tenham uma possibilidade real de ascensão social através da educação e de direitos sexuais e reprodutivos plenos.

Andreia: Você realizou recentemente um evento com o seu projeto Vulva Negra. No Brasil, a maioria das mulheres afetadas pela violência masculina e opressão estrutural são negras em todas as estatísticas, o que é preciso ser feito para começar a lidar com a questão?

Yasmin: Oh, sim. Desde 2022 tenho organizado eventos presenciais com o projeto Vulva Negra. Em dezembro de 2022, tivemos o nosso primeiro evento presencial na cidade do Porto, em Portugal, o qual chamamos de “Encontro Feminista Vulva Negra”. Desde então, retornei ao Brasil e temos realizado eventos nas capitais do país, abordando temáticas feministas, focadas nos direitos das mulheres, no antirracismo e na organização política de mulheres.

No final de 2023, organizei a primeira edição do Festival Vulva Negra, um evento com rodas de conversa, atrações musicais e sorteios voltados para a comunidade feminista. A primeira edição foi em homenagem aos cinco anos de existência do projeto Vulva Negra. Nos últimos anos, tenho estado comprometida com a realização de eventos presenciais, pois considero de suma importância abordarmos as temáticas em prol dos direitos das mulheres além das redes sociais e da internet. De certa forma, sinto que me senti profundamente inspirada com o clima e o acolhimento que senti por parte das mulheres britânicas quando estive no Reino Unido em 2022, para palestrar na mesa “Sisterhood is Global” na FiLiA Conference.

Quando fundei o Vulva Negra em 2018, um dos meus maiores sonhos era trazer a abordagem feminista material para a vida das mulheres negras, a fim de que pudéssemos discutir com maior profundidade as raízes históricas das violências que sofremos. Infelizmente, percebo na esquerda brasileira uma grande tendência a tentar abordar os problemas em sua superfície, ao invés de aprofundar os debates e começar a realizar os questionamentos certos. Muito se fala dos avanços que experimentamos durante governos progressistas, mas pouco se fala no quão homens têm se tornado cada vez mais agressivos e reativos conforme mulheres passam ocupar melhores espaços na sociedade brasileira.

Por exemplo, no Carnaval de Salvador deste ano, foram registrados três estupros coletivos, além de outras violências contra a mulher. Ainda que o governo apoie campanhas como o “Não é Não” (campanha de conscientização contra o assédio no Carnaval), sinto que ainda estão tateando a superfície - porque uma das razões pelas quais homens se tornam mais violentos contra mulheres em períodos como o Carnaval, é justamente como um método de punição ao fato dessas mulheres estarem exercendo suas sexualidades sem o crivo conservador. Homens, historicamente, utilizam o estupro como uma tática de punição às mulheres que consideram desviantes a fim de manter o controle coletivo através do medo, do terrorismo sexual. Se isso não for discutido, não teremos avanços reais e duradouros.

Andreia: Alienação Parental ainda é lei no Brasil, apesar do caso recente ocorrido com Ana Hickmann, uma apresentadora que foi agredida fisicamente pelo ex-marido e que está agora sendo acusada por ele de Alienação Parental. Você tem acompanhado a reação pública para revogar essa lei, especialmente as campanhas de grupos organizados de mulheres como o CPI Voz Materna?

Yasmin: No Brasil, infelizmente poucas organizações atuam de forma constante contra a Lei da Alienação Parental. Em partes, porque poucas pessoas possuem conhecimento sobre a história de fundação da teoria da Alienação Parental e também, em razão da inclinação patriarcal na execução das leis, muitos creem na tese de que mulheres utilizam a acusação de abusos sexuais ou maus-tratos para prejudicar seus ex-maridos. Nesse contexto, percebemos a importância do discurso que se constrói em torno das mulheres, pois o Brasil se trata de um país que encabeça os índices de feminicídio e exploração sexual na América do Sul, mas ainda assim as pessoas seguem acreditando no mito das “falsas acusações de estupro” e recharçando mulheres que buscam a proteção de seus filhos.

Contudo, precisamos jogar luz sobre as mulheres que estão bravamente lutando para trazer o conhecimento sobre a Lei da Alienação Parental no Brasil. Em geral, mulheres feministas materialistas estão na vanguarda de inúmeros temas no Brasil, como a revogação da Lei da Alienação Parental, a retomada de temas sobre a dignidade menstrual, sobre a maternidade compulsória e sobre a exploração do trabalho doméstico feminino - em especial, de mulheres racializadas.

Andreia: Com os altos números de violência doméstica, a Lei Maria da Penha está funcionando no Brasil? Uma pesquisa recente disse que apenas 20% das mulheres conhecem bem a lei. O que você acha da lei, aprovada recentemente pelo governo brasileiro, para dar ajuda financeira com aluguel para mulheres fugindo da violência doméstica?

Yasmin: A Lei Maria da Penha, assim como a criação das Delegacias da Mulher, foram políticas públicas essenciais e necessárias ao enfrentamento da violência doméstica sofrida por mulheres no Brasil. Entretanto, é preciso sinalizar que apesar de haver registros de 377 mil medidas de proteção efetuadas até 22 de outubro de 2023, o aumento da violência contra a mulher segue no país. De acordo com dados da 10ª edição da Pesquisa Nacional de Violência contra a Mulher, divulgada pelo Instituto DataSenado em parceria com o Observatório da Mulher contra a Violência, 74% das brasileiras perceberam um aumento da violência doméstica e familiar em 2023.

Dentro dessas problemáticas, ainda precisamos ressaltar que na prática, a lei funciona de maneira diferente para mulheres da classe alta e da classe baixa, havendo também uma diferença a partir da etnia da mulher que aciona a lei. Por estarem em maiores condições de vulnerabilidade, mulheres negras e racializadas em geral tendem a ter um maior nível de reincidência em relacionamentos abusivos, além do fato de que em muitos casos as medidas protetivas não são respeitadas pelos agressores.

Quanto à ajuda financeira oferecida pelo governo, qualquer tipo de esforço legal para que mulheres vítimas de agressão tenham acesso ao amparo socioeconômico deve ser visto com bons olhos, pois a pobreza ou o risco de vulnerabilidade econômica são um dos fatores preponderantes na permanência de mulheres em lares abusivos. Afinal, quando falamos a respeito do ciclo da violência, abordamos diretamente a postura de agressores que minam a vida social e trabalhista das mulheres, lhes impedindo de criar redes de apoio ou de permanecerem em seus empregos. Historicamente, homens trabalham para manter mulheres em situação de vulnerabilidade econômica pois sabem que isso facilita o acesso aos seus corpos e vidas.

Andreia: Qual é a importância das organizações e coletivas feministas estrangeiras em construir solidariedade internacional e conexões com as coletivas, grupos e associações de mulheres brasileiras?

Yasmin: A perseguição às feministas têm aumentado em todo mundo. Por todo lado, pessoas têm tentado nos silenciar através de falsas acusações, tentativas de assassinato social e sabotagens. Em um cenário como esse, manter-nos atomizadas, sem nos conectarmos entre nós serve somente para o nosso enfraquecimento coletivo. A construção de uma solidariedade que perpassa barreiras de nacionalidade, etnia e classe econômica se faz essencial para que mulheres sigam avançando em garantia de direitos.

Além disso, mulheres brasileiras têm muito a adicionar no debate internacional, tanto através dos saberes construídos por mulheres negras e indígenas, como também através da potente história da teoria feminista no Brasil, com grandes nomes que aqui emergiram como Lélia Gonzalez - que abordava questões em torno de conceitos como interseccionalidade antes mesmo que esse fosse cunhado nos Estados Unidos.

Nos últimos meses o Brasil tem enfrentado uma onda de ataques lesbofóbicos contra mulheres lésbicas e bissexuais, que culminaram no assassinato cruel de jovens como Ana Caroline Campêlo e em violências cometidas contra outras jovens lésbicas. No dia 18 de dezembro de 2023, iniciamos nossa marcha nas ruas em prol de justiça por Ana Caroline e por todas as mulheres lésbicas que foram vitimadas no Brasil nos últimos anos. Eu estive no primeiro protesto realizado no Brasil, em São Paulo. Ao longo de dezembro e do mês de janeiro, diversos outros protestos ocorreram pelo Brasil e também em outros países, como a França. O suspeito pelo assassinato de Ana Caroline foi judicializado no mês de janeiro.

Precisamos nos unir e deixar para trás práticas como o racismo, o colonialismo, a xenofobia, a lesbofobia e tantas outras estruturas que nos impedem de construir uma irmandade sólida e efetiva a fim de combater os avanços patriarcais. Precisamos fazer isso por nós mesmas, precisamos fazer isso por aquelas que ainda virão.

A protest/march against lesbocide. Image courtesy of Vulva Negra, photographer Ale Anselmi

The 8M Manifesto below was written by two Brazilian feminist collectives - Matria and Raízes Feministas - in response to the backlash on women's rights currently in place. The erasure of women from their own movement is an anti-democratic practice that cannot be tolerated. Women are the females of the human species and half of the world's population. This Manifesto aims to denounce female oppression in all forms to build up global sisterhood

Manifesto #8MWomen

THE HISTORY OF 8th MARCH AND THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT HAS BEEN PROFANED, VIOLATED, COLONISED AND DISTORTED AS A WAY TO MISCHARACTERISE ITS REASON FOR BEING.

In 1910 at the Second International Congress of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin proposed the creation of an International Women’s Day. Several demonstrations by workers in Europe followed that proposal. The most famous demonstration took place on 8th March 1917, when Russian weaving workers went on strike and asked for support from metalworkers.

International Women’s Day is a political date, created by women’s movements around the world at the beginning of the 20th century, that were demanding the right to vote, better working conditions and citizen emancipation, as well as fighting against sexual abuse within factories by employers. Therefore this date symbolises the resistance of women and their struggle to guarantee their rights and liberate their class from the system of male domination.

It was through the struggle for the basic recognition of their right to citizenship that women have been able, only relatively recently, to enter universities, participate in politics and begin to dispute patriarchal hegemonic narratives about history, culture and science as a whole. Thus, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Women’s Studies and the Feminist Movement or Women’s Liberation Movement emerged, demanding the recognition of women as a class exploited through reproductive and domestic work, denouncing the sexism that translates into the domination of the male sexual class over women, and highlighting patriarchy as the historical root of class society and all systems of exploitation.

Generally 8th March, International Women’s Day, is associated, both by the media and by the public and private sectors, as a commemorative date with commercial appeal. We, Brazilian women, emphasise that the importance of this day transcends celebration and tributes, being, above all, a day to promote the consciousness of the sex class among women and the fight to end the system of male domination.

WHAT WE WISH FOR THE 8M

We wish for girls and women to be able to develop and choose their paths without limitations and sexist and dehumanising social impositions. We wish for their work to be recognised in all spheres: domestic, reproductive and productive. For them to be able to express their voices as citizens and political subjects, without suffering retaliation for doing so. For their basic rights to be guaranteed, without them being systematically victimised by countless forms misogynistic violence, such as sexual objectification and exploitation, harassment, rape, obstetric violence, reproductive exploitation, femicide, genital mutilation, hate speech, along with other violence both material and symbolic.

We hope that 8M will be a date to rescue and strengthen the historical agendas of feminism, among them:

●      the denunciation of patriarchy as the founding system of all known forms of structural violence, such as colonialism, ecocide, racism and homophobia

●      denouncing male violence and combating feminicide

●      the fight against sexual violence, harassment and rape culture

●      the fight against pornography, prostitution and surrogacy

●      the fight for reproductive autonomy, sexual education and the right to abortion

●      the fight against domestic violence and femicide

●      the fight against obstetric, legal and institutional violence against mothers and their children

●      the repeal of the Parental Alienation Law in Brazil, abolition of the term ‘parental alienation’ and its correlates

●      the implementation of public policies to generate work and financial autonomy for women who are mothers, especially single mothers

●      combating racism and strengthening black and indigenous women’s organisations

●      the protection of children and denouncing the culture of paedophilia

●      the liberation from sexist social roles

●      the recognition of reproductive, domestic and care work as effective and fundamental work for the economy

●      the demand for physical, intellectual, sporting and political spaces exclusive to women and therefore protected from male domination and violence

●      the fight against lesbo hatred and the strengthening of lesbian women’s organisations

●      denouncing and combating male hegemony and masculinist and neoliberal theories in spaces of intellectual production, including universities, political parties and mixed social movements

●      women’s right to self-definition

●      the recovery and appreciation of the history and culture, both past and present, of women

●      the strengthening of artistic, intellectual and political creation initiatives by women, with a feminist perspective

●      the transformation of social, political and economic organisation from a perspective centred on women and children

To achieve these objectives, from which we could derive a more just society, with free people, without systematic oppression and exploitation, we must combat patriarchy, the system of male domination, which has been imposing violence and war as a mode of social organisation for at least five thousand years.

WHAT THE 8M IS NOT

8M is not a date created to celebrate ‘feminine characteristics’ ‒ beauty, delicacy, determination or any other stereotype of so-called femininity. It was a date created to mark the working-class exploitation of women and our struggles for emancipation. However, it is common for right-wing groups to use this day to reinforce sexist stereotypes and perpetuate the patriarchal narrative of a ‘woman’s place’.

Professor Eva Blay, from the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences/USP states that:

‘Decoupling March 8, today considered a festive and capitalist day – in which bosses and companies insist on “giving” employees makeup, flowers and services in beauty salons – from the workers’ struggle for better working conditions, is a way of erasing the protagonism of women in their own social and political history.’

The emptying of the political meaning of International Women's Day, promoted by conservative wings and largely supported by industry and commerce which benefit from it, resulted in great demobilisation around the fundamental agendas of 8M and deepened the distancing of ordinary women from feminist debates to which date sought to give visibility.

On the other hand, when it comes to progressive social movements, the emptying of March 8 is due to the ideological co-option of the feminist movement by neoliberalism, which propagates a ‘feminism’ without depth and commitment to the real issues that affect women’s lives. These movements have contributed to the erasure of women as political subjects and perpetuated sexist impositions, such as the idea that women should accept and prioritise the agendas of other movements and relegate their own issues to the background. We can draw a parallel with what happens every day to millions of Brazilian women in their homes, forced into ‘invisible’ reproductive, domestic and care work for children, the elderly, husbands and the community, being deprived of attention to themselves and their basic needs.

Even more serious are self-proclaimed ‘feminist’ or leftist movements defaming, coercing, attacking and even criminalising women who stand for a feminism centred on women, for spaces exclusive to our sex and for the fundamental right to define ourselves. This type of political persecution is brutal, undemocratic and anti-feminist, and constitutes political violence against women and masculinist reactionism.

March 8th is not about ‘welcoming the world’, as this apparently ‘nice’ maxim constitutes a self-boycott of the movement and corresponds to the expectation that we be submissive to the demands of groups other than women. Feminism, like International Women’s Day, must be about putting girls and women at the centre, aware that, historically speaking, the struggle for liberation of women, mothers of all humanity, is the mother of all struggles.

WOMEN OF THE WORLD, UNITE!

‘Maybe early, maybe late. It will be, however, when there is enough culture and solid independence among women for them to consider themselves individuals. Only then do we believe there is a better civilization.’

So stated Antonieta de Barros (1901-1952). The contributions of feminist women to the recovery of women’s history and to the dissemination of sexual class consciousness have allowed us today to see that the struggle for women’s liberation holds the key to a world with peace, social justice and the reintegration of human culture with living ecosystems.

However, the lack of knowledge about the cultural and political history of women causes women to remain oblivious to their own reality and submissive to patriarchal culture. Therefore, 8th March is a day for us to turn our attention to the extensive work developed by women intellectuals, artists, activists, thinkers, who came before us or who exist today, and who contributed to the women’s movement in practically all areas of knowledge.

Below is a list of bibliographies of women who have profoundly impacted feminist thought through their work. Let’s make the most of it. For a women’s day that truly belongs to women.

FEMINIST BIBLIOGRAPHY

BRODRIBB, Somer. Nothing Mat(t)ers: A Feminist Critique of Postmodernism. 1992.

BROWNMILLER, Susan. Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape. 1975.

COREA, Gena. The Mother Machine: Reproductive Technologies from Artificial Insemination to Artificial Wombs.HarperCollins, 1985.

DALY, Mary. Gyn/ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. 1990.

DWORKIN, Andrea. Pornography: Men Possessing Women. 1981.

EKMAN, Kajsa Ekis. Being and Being Bought: Prostitution, Surrogacy and the Split Self. 2013.

FALUDI, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women. 1991.

FEDERICI, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. São Paulo: Elefante, 2023.

GIMBUTAS, Marija. The Living Goddesses. 2001.

GONZALEZ, Lélia. For an Afro-Latin American Feminism: Essays, Interventions and Dialogues. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2020.

LERNER, Gerda. The Creation of Patriarchy. 1986.

LERNER, Gerda. The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-Seventy. 1993.

JEFFREYS, Sheila. Gender Hurts: A Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism. 2014.

LORDE, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Authentica, 2019.

MIES, Maria. Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labour. São Paulo: Ema Livros: Editora Timo, 2022.

MIES, Maria; SHIVA, Vandana. Ecofeminism. São Paulo: Luas, 2021.

MIYARES, Alicia. Trans Delusion and Misogyny: From the Transgender Subject to Transhumanism. 2022.

OYEWÙMÍ, Oyèrónkẹ́. The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses. Bazaar do Tempo, 2021.

PATOU-MATHIS, Marylène. Prehistoric Men were Women Too: A Story of the Invisibility of Women. Rio de Janeiro: Rose of Times, 2022.

PERROT, Michelle. My Stories of Women (Mon histoire des femmes). 2006.

RODRÍGUEZ MAGDA, Rosa María. La mujer molesta (The Woman Molests). 2019.

ROTANIA, Alejandra. A celebração do temor: biotecnologias, reprodução, ética e feminismo (The Celebration of Fear: Biotechnologies, Reproduction, Ethics and Feminism. 2001.

SAFFIOTI, Heleieth Iara Bongiovani. Women in Class Society. 1976.

SJOO, Monica; MOR, Barbara. Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth. HarperOne, 1987.

STOCK, Kathleen. Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism. São Paulo: Cassandra, 2024.

VALCARCEL, Amelia. Now, Feminism: Burning Questions and Open Fronts. 2019.

We provide #8MdasMulheres graphic material for women who want to organise and take to the streets on 8th March.

ACCESS HERE

Manifesto in Portuguese: https://www.8mdasmulheres.com.br/

To sign the manifesto:

(Below, it’s a translation of what women will see when they click to sign in the manifesto)

“8M Women's Manifesto

This is a document that aims to collect signatures in support of the 8M Women's Manifesto

We have noticed an advance in movements that mischaracterize the reason for this date and we have created this manifesto with the purpose of rescuing the essence of women's struggle for emancipation.

The full manifesto can be read here: https://www.8mdasmulheres.com.br/

And you can follow the #8MdasMulheres campaign on social media: https://www.instagram.com/8mdasmulheres/

Sign up and be part!

Why women's struggle is the mother of all struggles!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZkI94sQcHKNzspJT2Z8AzY6GNytP8RnG4LOWckhei4eKl3w/viewform