I once read about the pain and joy of being a woman. These past few weeks I haven't been able to get that phrase out of my head. Not because it's so poetic and touches us in different places, but because in today's Brazil there is no joy in being a woman, there is no joy in carrying on our bodies the mark of continuous violence against us. These have been weeks of devastating news.
On June 20, 2022, Portal Catarinas and The Intercept denounced the unjustifiable conduct of Judge Joana Ribeiro Zimmer for not allowing the termination of the pregnancy of an 11-year-old child, raped, abused by men, by society, and by the justice system. Abortion in cases of rape is constitutional. In the case in question, there was no doubt about the rape, since the child was only 11 years old and, therefore, incapable of making decisions about her body.
On June 25, 2022, Klara Castanho published a report of rape followed by direct delivery for adoption . The actress was raped, gave the baby up for adoption and was massacred by public opinion, by predatory journalism, by fake news in the name of likes, by the nurse who attended to her at the time of birth, by the doctor who attended to her in her first consultation after learning of the pregnancy. Her body was violated and her mental health was violated for making a decision that is supported by justice.
On July 11, 2022, the arrest of anesthesiologist Giovanni Quintella Bezerra for raping a pregnant woman during childbirth came to light . This is devastating news that exposes what we already knew: there is no safe way to be a woman in this society.
There is no way we can be protected. There is no way we can be cared for. There is no way we can live without the constant fear of being violated, of being controlled, of being killed. The living death that we experience every day when we read these news stories, the anonymous reports on the internet, the open and closed letters that we have access to.
“A rapist in your path”, a performance created and engaged by the Chilean feminist collective LASTESIS. Photo: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI + GETTY IMAGES
Every day, with every news item, it becomes clearer that our bodies are at the mercy of a State that controls us, does not protect us, does not ensure us. A justice system that protects those who haunt us, those who prevent access to basics for a child who has been violated by life, by men, by the State. Our bodies are at the mercy of public scrutiny. Even in moments of greatest vulnerability and fragility, men feel they have the right to violate us.
It's not just about ethics, being unethical in the practice of medicine, or in journalism, or in the practice of justice. After all, it's no news to anyone that Brazilian society does not value ethics. It's about men's belief and confidence that this crime would go unpunished. And every day new news emerges and the question that won't go away is: how many other women have suffered similar violations?
In 2021, 56,098 women were raped in Brazil , including rape of vulnerable people, an increase of 3.7% compared to 2020.
Rape and femicide in Brazil
This alarming data does not represent all rapes that occur in Brazil, since many cases are underreported, a situation that is already typical in the Brazilian justice system. In 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, 37,915 rapes against children and adolescents were recorded . Cases of rape of vulnerable people are more difficult to report, as children often do not understand what happened and do not feel safe telling anyone. An important piece of data to be analyzed is also the profile of these children. From 2017 to 2020, there was a decrease from 7,200 cases to 5,200 cases involving white children, while there was an increase from 5,300 to 5,600 cases involving black children.
In the country, it is estimated that there are around seven rapes per hour , mostly against children up to 14 years old. Furthermore, 1 in 7 Brazilian teenagers have already suffered some type of sexual violence , whether rape or harassment. In addition, data on sexual violence against vulnerable people and where these crimes occur are also shocking. In 2020, 65% of rape cases occurred at home, of which 85% are known to the victims. It is the State, it is doctors, neighbors, uncles, parents, grandparents, friends. We are not protected at home, on the street, at school, anywhere.
It's always good to remember the song by Chilean feminists that puts in capital letters all the fears expressed in this text.
“ and it wasn’t my fault, nor where I was, nor what I was wearing. The rapist is you. It’s the police. The judges. The state. The president. The oppressive state is a rapist male ”
LasTesis Senior. National Stadium, Santiago de Chile, November 2019.
LasTesis at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, Santiago de Chile, 2019. Photo: Daniel Barahona
It is enormously painful to report this information and it is scary to know that this is not the end of this violence. The fear of being next and the fear of the next news is always present. This text was written with indignation, anger, and fury at a society that, under a violent and oppressive patriarchy, protects men who hurt us, welcomes and promotes women who prevent us from accessing justice, and does not protect the lives of our children. We know that this is not the end of these reports of violence and it is difficult not to think that one day this violence will be the end of us.
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Ananda Vilela , Black woman from the outskirts of Suzano, in Greater São Paulo. PhD student in International Relations at PUC-Rio and master's degree from the same institution. I research race and racism in International Relations and also the intersections between race, gender and class in social relations.
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