Federal agency advises social workers to “face conservatism”

With an annual budget proposal of R$ 18 millionthe Federal Social Service Council (CFESS) released its action plan for 2024 this month with projects that include, for example, confronting conservatism, the fight for the legalization of abortion and support for gender diversity.

The objective, according to the document, is “engagement in anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-lgbtqia+phobic, anti-ableism and feminist struggles”. Therefore, there are no guidelines that encourage the population’s training for the job market, entrepreneurship or family support, for example.

However, what exists among the Council’s proposals – which is the federal agency responsible for directing the work of 210,000 social workers from all over Brazil – is a management campaign to “confront conservatism”, that is, fight against political thought that defends the maintenance of traditional social institutions such as family and religion.

The text also mentions the fight against fascism – a term that has been used to label radical individuals, regardless of their political orientation, right-wing or left-wing – and proposes to “disclose portraits of the daily resistance of Social Services in the fight for democratic radicality”.

For this work, the annual plan foresees meetings with experts, creation of a website to publicize the campaign and production of graphic pieces, videos, stamps and other digital and printed materials, which should be launched in September 2024. The amount allocated to the project is R$260 thousand.

In addition to the proposal to combat conservatism, another action presented in the CFESS 2024 plan is “engagement in the fight for the decriminalization and legalization of abortion, under the argument that the issue is a “matter of public health and women’s sexual and reproductive rights”. The activities of this campaign include promotion and participation in debates with the category, political articulation, public hearings and content production.

The Council’s budget for 2024 also presents several topics related to sexual diversity, such as “actions to combat LGBTQIA+phobic violence” and an “immersion in identity, feminism and sexualities” to “equip counselors for the National Seminar on Feminisms and Trans Diversity”. The program’s goal is to reach 80% of CFESS counselors.

The plan also foresees a national seminar to debate “the theme of feminisms and trans diversity in relation to the professional work of social workers”, and promises to prepare and print new copies of the series “social workers in the fight against prejudice” in order to “offer subsidies on combating LGTBTQIA+Phobia”. This series of publications is cited on the institution’s website as a way of fighting discrimination “in times of strengthening conservatism”.

According to the document from the public authority, the elaboration of this action plan is the “materialization of the CFESS’s ethical-political commitment to democratic, collective and transparent management”, and the actions presented are “the result of the debates that take place in the CRESS assemblies [Conselhos Regionais de Serviço Social]”.

Council says that confronting conservatism is the result of “democratic debates”

In a note sent to People’s GazetteCFESS states that the activities of the 2024 Action Plan are linked to “proposals widely debated and approved at the 50th CFESS-CRESS National Meeting, held in Brasília (DF), with the representation of professionals from all Brazilian states”.

Furthermore, it points out that the The debate on conservatism refers to the renewal of Brazilian Social Services in the 1980s, when the profession began to analyze society, “understanding violations of rights and inequalities that exist within it”.

Also according to the federal body, “the motivation for confronting conservatism comes from this legacy and presents itself as a result of democratic debates” in the category, which would see freedom, emancipation and social justice as “not compatible with this aspect of thought” , informs the note.

CFESS talks about “legal abortion”

When asked about the entity’s fight for the legalization of abortion, CFESS claims that “legal abortion is a right recognized by the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which allows the procedure to be carried out in cases of rape and risk of death to the pregnant person, as well as in case of fetal anencephaly, authorized by the Federal Supreme Court (STF)”.

The federal agency also informs that it “advocates increased access for women and men to contraceptive methods, as well as assistance for a healthy pregnancy; compliance with legislation regarding the practice of abortion permitted by law; and humanized and qualified care in a manner theory and technique by social workers to people seeking legal abortion services”.

However, it is worth highlighting that Brazilian legislation criminalizes abortion, only allowing it to be carried out in exceptions such as rape or risk to the mother’s life. For these cases, the law does not define a maximum gestational period for the procedure, and abortionists have encouraged the action at any time during pregnancy, even when the baby is more than six months old and is already viable outside the uterus, that is, it could be born and sent for adoption if there is no risk to the mother’s life.

The Council’s actions “do not include political or ideological political activities”, says jurist

Furthermore, according to doctor of law Adilson Dallari, who is a professor of Administrative Law and member of the scientific council of the Brazilian Society of Public Law (SBDP), the actions mentioned in the Plan of the Federal Council of Social Service are not part of the responsibilities of the institution.

According to him, Law 8,662, of 6/7/93, presents the functions of the individual who acts as a social worker (Article 4) and mentions the competence of the public body CFESS in Article 8, “which does not include political or political-ideological activities “, he points out, stating that “CFESS is going beyond its legal responsibilities by promoting the defense of abortion (against current legislation), and by promoting the fight ‘against conservatism and fascism, for democratic radicality’, which are objectives clearly ideological political, not administrative political”.

Given the situation, the jurist clarifies that social workers and the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) can report misuse of purpose, requesting a return to the duties legally established for the Council, “which do not involve ideological, political or partisan action”. Reports can be made through a written request sent directly to CFESS.