The challenges of women that begin at home and consolidate themselves in politics – 03/11/2024 – Jorge Abrahão

Every year we carry out research on women and the city to monitor progress or setbacks on this relevant topic.

Are there changes? There is! But on such a smaller scale and speed than is necessary that we often have to fight discouragement. How to change? The processes are slow, but the most efficient path to universalizing changes lies in public programs and policies.

And have they, the policies, happened? Yes, but deterrence mechanisms and trickery have been more efficient. The adage that crime pays often materializes in these cases. As a result, we take more time —or waste more time— for inexorable transformations. For example: political parties are obliged to have 30% female candidates and invest the same proportion of party funds in female candidates. In the last election, several tricks were discovered to circumvent the rule, with orange candidates to, in reality, channel resources to the party and male candidates.

Result of the 2020 municipal elections: in round numbers, of the 56 thousand elected councilors, only 9,000 (16%) are women and 47 thousand (84%) are men. The underrepresentation of women delays the definition of policies that promote gender equality.

In the survey by the Instituto Cidades Sustentáveis/Rede Nossa São Paulo, carried out by Ipec in the city of São Paulo, two out of every three women declared that they had suffered some type of harassment: gestures, uncomfortable looks and invasive comments. The place where they occur most is on public transport, followed by the work environment. The fact that we know that there is harassment and where it occurs contributes to the construction of solutions. From there it is a matter of awareness and political decision.

Records of violence against women increased 700% from 2016 to 2023. There were 1,276 cases and now there are 9,150. The numbers do not guarantee that cases have increased because they may indicate the enormous underreporting of a past governed by fear and which, gradually, changes due to the encouragement provided by the gain of awareness.

When the question is how to confront violence, almost half respond: increase punishment. Next come protective measures and communication campaigns. Ideally, politicians should create policies for common causes and in the public interest, as they represent the population as a whole.

But greater female representation in the City Council would greatly help with these changes. Today, the São Paulo chamber has 23% women. Of the capitals, Porto Alegre has the highest percentage of female councilors, 30%, and Campo Grande, the lowest (3%).

In the world of politics, women are underrepresented, remembering that they make up 51.5% of the Brazilian population. In the Bolsonaro government, it was 13% of the ministry and, in the current Lula government, 29%. In the top leadership of public authorities, they are 34%.

In the business world it is no different — women are also underrepresented: 38% hold leadership positions, with only 6% being black women and 17% being CEOs. When it comes to salaries, they receive 22% less than men in the same role.

The division of domestic tasks remains unequal. Four out of every ten households in São Paulo have women fully responsible for most of the chores: cleaning the house, preparing meals and washing the dishes are the most frequently mentioned tasks. Men are responsible for maintaining the house and taking out the trash. The difference in perception regarding the division of tasks deserves to be noted: for 32% of women, services are divided equally, but among men this percentage rises to 50%. The still latent machismo of our society appears here.

Data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union show that Brazil ranks 143rd out of 188 countries in terms of the number of female deputies in the national parliament (18%), which gives a measure of how far behind we are compared to other countries.

In 2024 we have municipal elections, time to look at the proposals of candidates. Today we have 658 mayors (12%) in the 5,570 Brazilian cities. Given this inequality, knowing what they propose to reduce violence and harassment, increase opportunities for women and advance gender equality in cities can indeed be a parameter for defining the vote.

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