Minister for Women's Policies urges stopping bias violence

The Secretary for Policies on Women's Rights, Eleonora Menicucci, was retained in office for the second administration of President Dilma Rousseff, and signed her re-inauguration documents on Tuesday (Jan. 13). During the ceremony, she talked about the challenges facing her new term of office, including that of expanding opportunities for democratic participation, and ending violence based on intolerance and prejudice.

“We have made great strides, and that's precisely why even more challenges lie ahead – because challenges are for the achievers,” she said. The minister promised to deliver, by the end of this year, 12 units of the so-called Houses for Brazilian Women (Casas da Mulher Brasileira), designed to assist victims of violence. The units will be located in 12 state capitals and provide a number of services, including dedicated police stations for female victims, special and district courts, public defenders and prosecutors, plus amenities including a playroom and a hall.

Menicucci praised a number of initiatives including the National Comprehensive Program for Women's Health, but noted that the efforts should not be limited to pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. “There's just so much more we need to do. We must protect their sexual and reproductive rights,” she said.

The minister went on to highlight another great achievement – the approval of a constitutional amendment providing specific labor rights to house maids. She promised to work hard in Congress to complete the details regulating specifically how the new rights apply in practice.

An advocate of the legalization of abortion and LGBT rights, Eleonora Menicucci, aged 70, has faced criticism among more conservative members of the government. A sociologist who obtained her degree from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, with a doctorate in Political Science from the University of São Paulo and a postdoctoral fellowship from the Facoltà di Medicina della Universitá Degli Studi Di Milano, Menicucci was arrested in the 70's for opposing the military dictatorship. She remained jailed in a detention center in Tiradentes, São Paulo, along with her former university colleague, Dilma Rousseff.

Translated by Mayra Borges