Violence against women driving refugee applications to Brazil

Caritas Rio de Janeiro held an event on Wednesday (Dec. 7) to discuss issues faced by refugee women and gender-based violence in both their countries of origin and Brazil. The aim of the event was to encourage transnational solidarity among women.

The Catholic organization reported that the number of women who seek refuge in Brazil has increased since 2014, going from 30.1% that year to 40.4% in 2015 and 42.3% of the total number of refugee applications submitted up to November 2016.

According to Nina Queiroga, head of Institutional Relations for Caritas Refugee Program Rio de Janeiro, that increase may be related to the violations these women face in their home countries. One of the countries with the largest number of refugee applications to Rio de Janeiro is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that has been at war for 20 years with a death toll of 6 million people.

“Amid the war, we see that very little has been done to end and take disciplinary actions against gender-based violations. So there is an obvious connection because the number of applications from Congolese refugees is larger. It's also likely that women have grown more aware of their rights and are now turning to new alternatives for support and shelter.”

Structural violence

Mireille Muluila has been in Brazil for two years. She said gender violence has deep roots in her home Congo—it is used as a form of warfare by rebel militias, but it also happens at home where local culture makes women completely submissive to their husbands. Forced marriage is also common there, often with girls at their pre-teens.

Sometimes it all happens so suddenly when the rebels come, Muluila says, that women have to flee with nothing but the clothes on their backs. “That is why so many women are seeking refuge in other countries,” she says.

Transnational solidarity

Cases like Muluila's have inspired a group of women to keep a record of these stories. Luciana Salvatore is one of the women leading the project. The original approach, a letter-writing workshop, ended up evolving into a film called Travessias, which was screened at the Caritas event.

As Salvatore explained, the film originated from an interest in moving closer to these women and understanding personal perspectives “that are common to us, them, all women. We're promoting nonviolence and helping them overcome problems that pervade a woman's world. Feelings about violence are the same everywhere. A woman that has been raped will feel the same no matter where in the world she is.”

Bruna Rangel, from Não me Kahlo women's collective, pointed out that gender violence in Brazil impacts the lives of these women who are now part of Brazilian society as well. “It's a matter of women sticking together. We see a very small presence [of women] in parliament. Putting public policy into action is a huge challenge. So support from civil society is crucial.”

The Caritas event was part of the international campaign, “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence”.

Translated by Mayra Borges