Women talk violence in rural areas at 7th Marcha das Margaridas

Intimidation, humiliation, aggression, domestic slave labor, deprivation of liberty, domestic violence, rape, femicide, and other violent deaths often target girls and women in rural areas, quilombola communities, landless groups, and riverside villages, as well as those living in large urban centers.

According to the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook 2023, compiled by the Brazilian Public Security Forum with police records, in 2022, 1.9 percent of femicides and 3.3 percent of other violent deaths of women in Brazil took place in rural areas—where also 3.2 percent of rapes were recorded countrywide last year.

The Pastoral Land Commission confirmed women’s greater exposure to violence in its report Conflicts in Rural Brazil 2022. “Female leaders tend to suffer from intimidation in greater proportion than men,” the text reads.

Violence is one of the 13 main topics discussed at the 7th Marcha das Margaridas (“Daisies’ March”), to take place in the capital Brasília on Tuesday and Wednesday (Aug. 15, 16). The theme for this edition is “For the Reconstruction of Brazil and for Well-Living.”

Among the participants is Maria Ivete Bastos, head of the Union of Rural Workers and Family Farmers in Santarém, Pará state. She says she is well aware of the violence against women working in the field, and revealed that she faced threats for her work as a rural unionist and had to live with a police escort for ten years.

“As human rights advocates, we’re plagued by the greed of those who covet our resources. They can kill and intimidate for minerals, for land, for wood, and they throw mercury into the Tapajós river, in addition to other attacks and all kinds of violations. That’s why we’re here marching for our rights, for conservation, and for the protection of the peoples of the Amazon,” she declared.

To discuss the challenges in the daily lives of these women, rally goers on Monday (14) met with representatives from the Ministry of Women, who unveiled the measures to be implemented as part of the government’s Women Living Without Violence program, resumed in March this year.

Aline Yamamoto, the ministry’s director for Rights Protection, said the government plans to expand the offer of tools to protect women at risk in  rural areas—including patrolling vehicles, new shelter homes, and the introduction of a dedicated hotline.

“We should soon launch a national pact to combat violence against women and prevent femicide, to be joined by state and city authorities. The federal government will send funding and provide the guidelines,” said Yamamoto.