Brazil launches national campaign against misogyny
On Wednesday (Oct. 25), the Ministry of Women launched the Brazil without Misogyny campaign, which aims to mobilize the most diverse sectors of society to combat hatred, discrimination, and violence against women.
During the launch event, over 100 agreements were signed by companies, state governments, social movements, trade unions, sports teams, fan groups, and cultural, educational, and religious organizations, all pledging their support to the campaign.
Minister Cida Gonçalves emphasized the campaign's mission to combat femicide, as misogyny serves as a catalyst for various forms of violence against women. In 2022 alone, 1,400 Brazilian women were killed solely because they were women, as reported in the Public Security Yearbook.
"Femicides aren't just about taking a woman's life. They begin before that. They start with jokes, abuse, psychological, and moral violence," stated the minister.
Online Violence
The campaign will develop actions together with Google, Facebook, Meta, and YouTube to combat hate speech and the dissemination of intimate or false photos of women on social media.
Data from the non-governmental organization Safernet reveals a 251 percent increase in complaints about hate speech against women on the internet in 2022, compared to a 61 percent increase in complaints of other types of hate speech. "We will push for the criminalization of online attacks and the removal of these accounts," declared First Lady Janja Lula da Silva during the campaign's launch.
Other strategies focus on tackling gender-based violence, bridging the gender pay gap, preventing domestic violence, and promoting increased representation of women in positions of power.
According to Ana Carolina Quirino, the UN Women representative in Brazil, the efforts should aim to change prevailing social norms that currently allow violence against women to persist in both public and private spaces.
