Lula prepares actions for women from a political-electoral perspective – 05/03/2023 – Politics

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) mobilized its ministries to present actions for Women’s Month. To give political weight to the date, the PT intends to hold a grand ceremony this Wednesday, March 8, at the Planalto Palace.

According to members of the government, there are more than 25 actions, coordinated by Minister Cida Gonçalves (Women). Other measures will be rolled out throughout the month or have already been announced.

Among the actions is the proposal to create the National Marielle Franco Day and the construction of Casas da Mulher Brasileira and workshops for manufacturing sanitary pads in women’s prisons.

In addition to women representing more than half of the population, there is a political-electoral component in encouraging these measures.

During the elections, Lula benefited from the high rejection of women against former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

For this reason, he credits part of his victory to this segment of the electorate. He has highlighted them in his speeches and wants to take advantage of March to reinforce this message.

An episode, narrated by Cida Gonçalves, about when Lula invited her to take over the ministry, explains this.

“I want you to [Cida] know the responsibility that I [Lula] I’m giving it to you, because women elected me. Therefore, you have the responsibility to touch what is most important to me in this government, which are the people who, when nobody believed in it, went there and believed in me”, said the minister at a Google event with the Instituto Rede Mulher Empreendedora ( IRME), in the last week.

It is also this segment of society that has given more positive evaluations to its management. According to the latest survey by Quaest, released at the end of February, 44% of women evaluate the Lula government 3 as positive, while among men, it is 37%.

The survey interviewed 2,016 people between February 10th and 13th.

Last week, the president announced one of the main measures that will be launched on the next 8th, in a ceremony in the Planalto: the presentation of a bill that establishes remuneration equal for men and women who perform the same function.

The idea was the flag of the then candidate and today Minister Simone Tebet (Planning). It was incorporated by the PT campaign and should come off the ground next week.

There are already laws on the subject, but in practice they are not complied with. The details are still being finalized by the Civil House. According to reports, the new law should have positive and negative reinforcements for companies, as other countries already do.

This past week, members of civil society went to the Planalto Palace and took their contributions to the package.

One of the government’s main emphases will be on the issue of femicide, as Lula himself highlighted during his campaign. According to palace assistants, this issue, like hunger, has become one of the priorities of the Chief Executive — many attribute this change to the first lady, Rosângela da Silva, to Janja.

In this sense, one of the announcements for the month of March will be the construction of Casas da Mulher Brasileira across the country, a policy of the program “Mulher Viver, Sem Violência”. This action is carried out by the Ministry of Women in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

The Casa da Mulher Brasileira is a program that has existed since the government of former President Dilma Rousseff (PT). It is a public space that concentrates specialized and multidisciplinary services for assisting women victims of violence, ranging from reception to legal services.

According to reports, the intention is for these spaces to be built not only in the capitals, but also in the interior of the country.

The government’s actions also include increasing the number of vehicles for Maria da Penha patrols —specialized in the protection of women— and women’s police stations.

“All indicators [de violência] increased in the last year and especially against black women, making it necessary to resume investments in prevention”, said Tamires Sampaio, special advisor to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and coordinator of Pronasci (National Program for Public Security with Citizenship),

There will also be a partnership between Senappen (National Secretariat for Penal Policies) and the Secretariat for Access to Justice of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to launch the Menstrual Dignity Program for people in vulnerable situations, which consists of workshops for the manufacture of sanitary pads , diapers and panties by people arrested.

In the context of political violence, the Ministry of Racial Equality will announce the Marielle Franco National Day to Combat Political Violence based on Gender and Race, on March 14, the same date as the anniversary of the murder of the city councilwoman. Her sister, Anielle Franco, is Minister of Racial Equality.

Federal banks, run for the first time by women, will also announce measures for March 8. At Banco do Brasil, headed by Tarciana Medeiros, products with special conditions favorable to women will be launched this month, such as a line of credit for women entrepreneurs.

In addition, the Lula government should propose that the equality of male and female workers be used as a tiebreaker in federal government bids. The idea, from the Ministry of Management, by Esther Dweck, is to regulate an article of the Bidding Law.

Although the agenda for women was placed as a priority during the campaign, during the transition there was a break in expectations when Lula announced only 11 female ministers in his first echelon.

The number is a record, but still below par, since there are 37 folders on the Esplanada.

Lula also nominated for the first time women for Banco do Brasil, Tarciana Medeiros, and for Caixa Econômica Federal, Rita Serrano.

To a small audience of women from civil society and the political world, at the Google event this week, Minister Cida Gonçalves recognized that there are few in the first echelon, but attributed this to the machismo of political parties, which make the nominations.

“Bringing empowerment means, in addition to leaving the situation of violence and having financial autonomy, to make our women subjects of law, this is the challenge that Lula is posing to us. And he has shown this, when he places 11 ministers in the government,” he said.

“People ask: ‘Isn’t that not enough? There are 37 ministries’. Yes, we know that it is [pouco]. But we have to overcome the machismo of those who nominate, because the problem is not with President Lula, it is with who nominates, which are the parties,” he added.

Of the 11 ministers, six are directly linked to political parties.

Women’s Month Measures

• Products under special conditions at Banco do Brasil, such as a line of credit with a lower rate for family farmers or entrepreneurs.

• Entrepreneurs Tech Program for companies and technological projects led by women.

• National Marielle Franco Day against political violence.

• Make the equality of male and female workers a tie-breaking criterion in federal government tenders.

• National Meeting of Women of the Waters and launch of the Women of the Waters award.

• Launch of the Menstrual Dignity Program for vulnerable people.

• Public notice of R$ 4 million for municipal projects focused on preventing violence and crime, with a focus on women.

• Public notice of 1.5 million to finance projects to promote actions to generate work, income and social participation for vulnerable women.

• Donation of 270 vehicles to the Maria da Penha Patrols.

• Strengthening the structures of the women’s police stations.

• Construction of Brazilian Women’s Houses in capitals and in the interior of the country.

• Development of meetings, events, debates and balance sheets within the scope of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security with a focus on gender.