Gender inequality persists at Aleam, CMM and AM federal caucus

Manaus (AM) – Gender inequality in politics is a reality in decision-making spaces in Amazonas. For the most part, the number of women on the chairs is lower compared to the number of men, while in others, there is no female representative, as in the federal bench of Amazonas.

In the Legislative Assembly of Amazonas (Aleam), despite the growth of female representatives, the number is still small, while in the Municipality of Manaus (CMM), the female presence is proportionally even smaller.

According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), around 1.64 million Amazonians are women (50.2%) and 1.63 million are men (49.8%). Even though they make up more than half of the population of Amazonas, women are underrepresented in politics.

As a result, the planning of public policies aimed at this population ends up being poorly developed, leading to the permanence of problems such as gender violence and lack of opportunity in the job market.

“One of the consequences is leaving out the agendas relevant to this audience, which are the majority of the population and the highest percentage of the electorate. In addition, most of the lower-income women are heads of families and take care of their children without the presence of a partner,” said Michele Aracaty, a member of the Committee to Combat Corruption and the group to combat gender-based political violence.

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In the Legislative Assembly of Amazonas (Aleam), only five women were elected to assume the position of state deputy. They are: Débora Menezes (União Brasil), Alessandra Campêlo (PSC), Joana Darc (União Brasil), Mayara Pinheiro (Republicanos) and Mayra Dias (Avante). They represent 20% of the members of the house, out of a total of 24 parliamentarians.

The low rate of women is the same as in the 19th legislature (2019-2023), with five female representatives in the House. In this legislative period, there was an increase in the number of women deputies in Aleam, compared to the previous legislature, in which only one woman took office in 2015. Even so, in the last election, in 2022, the reduced number of women elected to take office in the Aleam remained constant.

The survey carried out by Em Tempo shows that Amazonas is the 4th, among the states of the Legal Amazon, with the lowest number of women parliamentarians in the current composition of the Legislative Assembly, with five deputies.

They are also tied with Amazonas, the states of Roraima and Rondônia. Amazonas is behind Mato Grosso (1), Tocantins (3) and Acre (4).

According to state representative Mayara Pinheiro, the political environment has always been surrounded by men, and it is important to emphasize the importance of female representation. In this sense, she emphasized that “being a woman at Aleam makes a difference”, as she manages to be the voice for women from the Amazon. “It is a very big responsibility”.

The deputy understands that women often have their power of opinion curtailed, something that makes it impossible to contribute to the common good. “Being a minority we get so much prominence with our work, what if we were more? I believe we would be unbeatable.”

The first-term state deputy, Mayra Dias, pointed out to Em Tempo that the number of deputies in Aleam is still small, but considers that it could be a moment of advancement. “In the current situation, I believe that we have advanced a lot, for example, until some legislatures we had only one woman in parliament, today we have an active and present female bench”, she said.

It also argues that the more women act in politics, the more the female population will be contemplated. “Women participate actively and leave the position of just voters and gain prominence by occupying spaces that are rightfully theirs. The woman needs to be encouraged to make that decision and our work is doing that”.

CMM

The scenario of under-representation of women in political spaces is also repeated in Manaus City Hall. The composition of vacancies in the Municipal Legislative House is even greater with 41 seats. In this sense, it was to be expected that a significant number of positions would be held by women compared to Aleam, which has half the number of vacancies.

However, the rate of women is even lower: only four women occupy the CMM, namely councilors Glória Carrate (PL), Professor Jacqueline (União Brasil), Thaysa Lippy (Progressives) and Yomara Lins (PRTB), elected in 2020 .

Since the 2012 municipal elections, the CMM has seen a drop in the number of women. While in 2008, six women were elected to hold the position, in 2012, only five female representatives were chosen. Already in 2016, four women took over the seats in the Chamber of Manaus.

In all, in the last four elections, the CMM had 12 female figures: Glória Carrate, Professor Jacqueline, Thaysa Lippy, Yomara Lins, Joana Darc, Socorro Sampaio, Rosi Matos, Vilma Queiroz, Cida Gurgel, Lúcia Antony, Marise Mendes and Vilma Queiroz.

The first councilwoman elected in the Manaus Chamber was Léa Alencar Antony, in 1964. After almost 60 years since she took office in parliament, only 31 women have occupied the CMM.

For the vice-president of the CMM, councilor Yomara Lins, it is important for women to occupy the political space to “guarantee the full representation of the Brazilian population in politics in a conscious way”.

“The data show us how far women are still removed from decision-making processes in the country. The role of women tends to grow in political spaces. The presence of women in the public space has broken prejudices and promoted changes in domestic and social relationships. This is how I understand that women have an important contribution to make to politics,” she said.

She also highlighted that the fight for gender equality in politics is not recent, but is the result of the intense work of other women, who “dedicated and are dedicated with dedication to the right to political representation”.

Councilor Professor Jacqueline pointed out to Em Tempo that being one of the four women in the CMM makes her work in the search for an increase in the number of female representation in the next elections.

For her, the low rate of female representatives in politics reflects the absence of public policies for women, “such as health, education, employment, housing, social assistance, among several other rights”.

“Equality between men and women is only on paper, but in practice we know that reality is different. When we are not in politics, our space of power and decisions are occupied by men. Women in politics have a voice, and the female voice in parliament echoes much more, so women in politics are important, as they give visibility to female agendas,” she said.

Federal Bench of Amazonas

At the national level, gender inequality in politics is even more latent. Only three women were part of the federal bench in Amazonas.

In the 2022 elections, no woman was elected to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies by Amazonas. The last female representative to occupy a position in the National Congress was federal deputy Conceição Sampaio, elected in 2015.

Vanessa Grazziotin was one of the few female voices to represent Amazonas in the Chamber, being elected three times as a federal deputy in 1998, 2002 and 2006. She was also the only woman in the history of Amazonas who was elected as a senator, a position she held from 2011 until 2019.

Another female representative who made up the federal bench of Amazonas was Rebeca Garcia. She was elected in 2006 and in 2015 as a federal deputy.

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