Prosecutions for “fatphobia” in court grow 300% in 4 years in Brazil

The number of cases in court about complaints of “fatphobia”, a name that has been attributed to conduct of alleged prejudice against obese people, increased by 314% between 2019 and 2022. According to the organization Data Lawyer, which compiled the data, in 2019, 49 cases of this type were registered in court; already last year there were 203 processes that dealt with fatphobia.

In the total period of analysis, between 2014 and February 2023, 721 cases were recorded with allegations of prejudice against obese people. Of all these cases, in only 14.7% did the court find the complaint unfounded. On the other hand, in 36.5% of the cases, the accusation was considered valid or partially valid.

The data indicate that the Judiciary has signaled an attitude of compliance with complaints of this type. According to the study Obesity and Fatphobia — Perceptions 2022published last year by the Brazilian Association for the Study of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (Abeso) and by the Brazilian Society of Metabology and Endocrinology (SBEM), 85.3% of respondents, people considered obese, said they had already been the target of some embarrassment due to weight.

On the other hand, taking someone to court for fatphobia can be a good deal. According to data from Data Lawyer, the processes included in the analysis add up to R$ 172 million. The average value of claims is R$ 240,000.

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The term “fatphobia” gained strength in Brazil a few years ago when identity activists and politicians, especially aligned to the left, began to include obese people in the list of people who would suffer discrimination. The militants of this cause even try to hide the dangers of obesity for health. As a result of political pressure, the issue began to be judicialized more frequently.

One of the champions of accusations of fatphobia is influencer Thais Carla, who said she had sued more than 20 people. The most recent litigation is against federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG). The parliamentarian shared on his social networks an image, released by Carla herself, who is obese, dressed in “Globeleza” (half-naked and with Carnival accessories), with the message “they took away the beauty and only the Globe was left”. After that, the influencer filed a claim for compensation of BRL 52,000 for moral damages and misuse of the image. After the repercussions of the case, the deputy published: “I should have treated obesity as a novel, as empowerment, and not as a disease (…). Where have you seen, in the 21st century, having your own opinion, right?”, he joked.

“I sue a lot of people, I don’t give voice, I go there quietly with the lawyer, I earn my money and I have my case won. And that’s about it, “she said in a podcast last year, valuing the financial gains from the practice.

In one of the cases, Thais filed a lawsuit against a surgical scrub nurse who correctly stated, on her social networks, that obesity is a disease. Letícia Bastos, the health professional targeted by the process, had already criticized the romanticization of obesity in other publications, arguing that there are several complications and health aggravations due to the physical condition of people with the influencer’s physical size.

“Obesity is a disease. It has nothing to do with fatphobia. Stop lying to people,” she said in a post. In another post, she highlighted: “we cannot let obesity become normal, natural, in the face of so many tragic cases that we follow”.

There is no crime of “fatphobia” in Brazilian law

There is no crime of “fatphobia” or “prejudice based on body weight” in Brazilian legislation, even though some situations of discrimination may have consequences in court.

“One of the practices that could characterize fatphobia would be in a job interview, where the interviewer would fail to hire a person for the aesthetic factor, in this case obesity. Or, even, discrimination at work, with obesity being an impediment to career progression”, explains professor of Criminal Procedural Law and prosecutor Mauro Fonseca Andrade.

“At the moment, these conducts are characterized as a civil offense, liable to result in the payment of compensation to the victim. Depending on how the act is carried out, it may characterize the crime of defamation, but this has to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis”, explains the jurist. If the Justice understands that there was a crime of defamation, the penalty can be from three months to one year plus a fine.

If the person falsely alleges that fatphobia has been committed, the complainant may be held criminally responsible for conduct such as false reporting of a crime or misdemeanor (Article 340 of the Penal Code) and slanderous denunciation (Article 339 of the Penal Code).

obesity is a disease

Obesity is a disease that can lead to other comorbidities, such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and high cholesterol.

“We live in a world where words have to be phrased very carefully. Sasber that obesity is a public health problem does not mean being fatphobic or spreading fatphobia. Many people need specialized attention”, says nutrition specialist and post-graduate in Obesity, Adriano Gourlart.

The nutritionist specialist in the area of ​​molecular nutrition, Patricia Lara, reinforces that obesity is not an aesthetic problem, but a clinical one. According to her, the disease causes an increase in cells that cause inflammation, causing damage to circulatory and cardiac functions and to the body’s operating system, such as the liver, kidneys and pancreas. Sex hormones can also be affected due to overweight, interfering with the woman’s ovarian cycle and causing syndromes and infertility.

As for fatphobia, the nutritionist points out that there is a big difference between the use of pejorative terms or meaningless criticism and forcing a concept that being obese is not a problem, but a normal physiological issue. “Confusing bad education with a process of prohibiting any individual from saying that obesity is a disease shows that we are making mistakes in this concept. Stigmatizing is bad. Romanticizing is just as bad, ”she adds.

Obesity, in addition, also economically affects the obese themselves and society. Research published in the scientific journal BMJ Global Health, for example, assessed the economic impacts of being overweight in 161 countries. The study pointed out that around 88% of the population will be overweight or obese by 2060. Direct and indirect costs with the disease are estimated at US $218 billion. The researchers estimate that this value will represent 4.66% of the Brazilian GDP in 2060.