By Alexa C. DeLeon

The discussion about women’s reality in Brazil captivated me during class and stood out as one of my favorite lectures while in Salvador. The difficulties women face can be challenging, but can you imagine the impact of intersecting identities on women, the violence women must endure, and the underrepresentation of black women in normalized job sectors?

During class we discussed the struggles black women must endure in Brazil. We Black Women Have to Kill a Lion Everyday a reading for class defined the concept of intersectionality as being used to analyze and understand how multiple forms of identity and oppression interact to shape life experiences of marginalized groups. Grasping the daily struggles these women face is essential for fostering understanding and empathy. Recognizing that white women have greater advantages than black women underscore the urgency of addressing these disparities.

 In Salvador, the lecture with Professor Clarice helped me understand the brutal reality black women experience. She mentioned how one of her black friends was a professor and she was questioned several times as it was surprising to be a black woman with a job in education. I specifically remember hearing how she was often confused as a cleaning lady because those are the type of jobs suited for black Afro-Brazilian women. 

During my time in Salvador, I became very observant of who occupied specific jobs. What stood out to me was that my host sister, a white Brazilian, worked from home as an architect, while the helper who cooked and cleaned the apartment was of darker complexion. Although my host family treated her with respect, the division of labor based on skin color is very common in Brazil. On the streets, the people selling food, beverages, or clothes were often Afro-Brazilians.
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The struggles faced by black Brazilian women were further highlighted during our discussion on women's reality and the Lei Maria da Penha in Brazil. The speaker explained how Maria da Penha became an inspiration to many women due to her status. This law is a powerful example, demonstrating that anyone can seek help regardless of race or social status. Our class also explored the correlation between race and social status, noting that Afro-Brazilians are often part of the lower class in “Race and Cultural Politics in Bahia.” Since Maria da Penha serves as an example for women to speak up, it is crucial for women to understand that their marginalized identities should not prevent them from attaining justice, especially concerning violence against women.

Violence against women was a topic that deeply resonated with me. As a woman, it was alarming to realize that I could be an easy target in Brazil simply because of my gender. Hearing about the challenges women face in class, observing the roles of women in Salvador, and experiencing these realities firsthand, I have become acutely aware of how one's identity as a woman, especially as an Afro-Brazilian woman, can be both a burden and a catalyst for change. Afro-Brazilian women endure the most due to their intersecting identities, yet they are also the ones who break stigmas and fight for a more just world.

Overall, the class prepared me well to understand the harsh reality faced by black Brazilian women. My time in Salvador further emphasized the need for advocacy for Afro-Brazilian women and the pursuit of a more just society. Reflecting on our class discussions and readings, understanding structural racism was crucial for comprehending the struggles women of color endure and fostering greater empathy for them. Violence against black women is not limited to physical harm; it also includes their lack of access to the same opportunities and resources as men and other women. One key takeaway from this experience is that discussing the systemic issues affecting specific groups can help raise awareness and drive the necessary changes.


Sources:
Carillo, Ian. “Racialized Organizations and Color-Blind Racial Ideology in Brazil.” Sociology of Race and ethnicity 7, 1 (2021).

Hogan, Vijaya K., Edna M. de Araujo, Kia L. Caldwell, Sarah N. Gonzalez-Nahm, and Kristin Z. Black. “‘We Black Women Have to Kill a Lion Everyday’: An Intersectional Analysis of Racism and Social Determinants of Health in Brazil.” Social Science & Medicine, The role of Racism in Health Inequalities: Integrating Approaches from Across Disciplines, 199 (February 1, 2018): 96–105

Lecture on “Women’s reality and Lei Maria da Penha in Brazil” (May 24, 2024).

Lecture about Racism and Health in Brazil with Prof. Clarice Mota (May 24,2024).

Pinho, Osmundo. “Race and Cultural Politics in Bahia.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History (2020). 

By Lily Fredericks, Brianna Kreft, and Hailee Thayer

​If we had a soundtrack of our trip to Rio de Janeiro, “Girl From Rio” by Anitta would be the main track. We felt like main characters throughout our week there, especially when we were able to find our own way in the city and figure things out for ourselves. However, there were definitely times where we felt like the quintessential dumb Americans, such as when we looked like deer in the headlights when people tried to speak to us, when we couldn’t tell the uber driver where we were going, or when we ordered the completely wrong menu item. But we got good at laughing these things off, making the best of each situation despite often feeling out of place, and adapting to the surrounding situation and culture. Additionally, another thing that we noticed almost immediately when we stepped foot in Rio was that we did not get nearly as many stares and yells from people on the streets as we did in Salvador for looking so out of the ordinary. We quickly realized that this was because we actually did not look out of the ordinary in Rio where there is a much higher population of white folks than in Salvador, which has one of the highest populations of black and brown folks as we learned in class. As sad as it is, this made us feel safer than we felt in Salvador, because we were able to blend into the crowd more. We also discussed how Rio was simply more touristy than Salvador, which also could be a reason that we felt safer there. 

Perhaps one of our favorite things we did while in Rio was a backstage Carnaval tour that we booked through Airbnb experiences. Even though we thought that the more scenic and popular activities like visiting Christ the Redeemer or Sugarloaf Mountain would be the highlights of our trip, while they were still amazing, the Carnaval tour was the most memorable because we really learned more about Brazilian culture and how big of a deal this event is for many Brazilians. We got to see the behind the scenes of the workings of the Samba school that was the winner of Carnaval in 2022. We got to see the breathtaking floats, costumes, and the hard work that constitutes the year-long preparation for Carnaval. We also got to learn what each float, costume, and dance represented, and the Samba school’s theme for this year was Candomblé, which was very cool to see considering we had learned all about this religion while in Salvador. To our surprise, at the end of the tour, we got to dress up in old Carnaval costumes and even dance with a professional Samba dancer. It was very fun, and we were able to let loose a bit, even in the company of strangers. Learning the details of what goes into Carnaval and the meaning behind it made us appreciate it even more than we already did.
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Another favorite excursion of ours was visiting Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) and Sugarloaf Mountain. Even though it was slightly cloudy when we went up to see Christ, the views were still amazing. The statue was a lot bigger than we thought and we had to take pictures at a low angle to get him in it. While we were up there, we saw a group of men trying to take a picture. Like the nice Minnesota people we are, we offered to take one of them. They then offered to take one of us. We thought it would just be one and done, but this man proceeds to take individual pictures of us, even laying on the ground to get the right angle, and even posing us. Needless to say, we were surprised. The pictures turned out great and we are forever grateful for that man. We had better weather for Sugarloaf, though. We had booked a gondola ride to go all the way up the mountain. The views from the gondola were incredible, even if they packed us into the car like sardines. We were very surprised when the gondola moved as fast as it did, the longest stretch took only a few minutes to get up there. When we were at the first stop, we saw people rock climbing up the mountain. We had to look away because the height made us nervous for the climbers. Then at the second and final stop, we found it amazing that we could see the entire city of Rio. It seemed like the Cariocas were very proud of their city and there were many native Brazilians taking in the sites as well as tourists.

​On our second or third night in the city, we were finally able to meet up with Lucia, who had generously been giving us very helpful advice about the city for some time. We had great conversations about culture in Rio and she was able to tell us about her life and her family, so it was fun to be able to see what life in Rio was like for her. We then attended the Flamengo basketball championship game. This was sort of nerve racking to us at first because there were a lot of yelling men and people in general, but once we got settled into our seats, we enjoyed ourselves and cheered the team on with the rest of the crowd. We had to move seats once because a group of guys kept looking at us up and down and trying to talk to us, and we just wanted to be able to see the game. Lucia and Pedro mentioned to us that the crowd would be mostly men, so we were not really surprised that this happened. But it was really interesting to see how much less popular basketball is in Brazil as this was a championship game yet only half the arena was full. However, the fans that were there were dedicated and relentless with their cheering, which was a fun thing to experience

​On one of our last days, we visited both the Lapa stairs and the Cafeteria Colombo. The stairs were a very cool site to see and take pictures of, as they were entirely made up of colored tiles from around the world. We even saw an MN painted tile. There were also other very random tiles from cities across the U.S. as well as American popstars and American Universities. The whole time we were wondering how these tiles got here and what it took for one to get to place a tile on the stairs. We were also surprised by just how many people were visiting the stairs that day. We are not sure why, but we sort of thought that they would not be crowded at all. However, we realized that in a city as big as Rio, there are not many places that are vacant. Next, we went to the Cafeteria Colombo which Lucia told us was built in the 1800’s. The interior gave us very European vibes, which we thought was interesting, and we were able to sit down and get a cup of fancy coffee. In looking around, we could tell that this was sort of a tourist spot but also most likely a place for more wealthy Brazilians to come, as the prices were higher than we were used to seeing and people seemed to be dressed nice. 

​While our time in Rio was amazing and very smooth, our journey home was anything but. With multiple flight changes and a 12-hour delay in Sao Paulo, we had a lot of time to reflect on our trip to Rio and our time in Brazil as a whole. All three of us enjoyed our time immensely, not only doing the fun touristy stuff but more importantly, taking part in activities that taught us about Brazilian culture and  history. We will forever be dreaming of Brazilian coffee, will forever remember the cultural importance of Capoeira, and of course, will forever be hunting for our next caipirinha.

​Lily: I think what I learned most of all in Rio was how to be truly independent and how to be flexible when things do not go as you planned them. In Rio, we no longer had things being planned for us at every step in our day like we did in Salvador. We had to figure out what we wanted to do, how we were going to get there, and what we needed to do to prepare for this on our own – all in a new country and one of the biggest cities in the world. Additionally, there was at least one thing each day that threw a wrench in our plans. Perhaps things did not go at all how we expected, our plans were forced to change, we couldn’t communicate with someone, or we simply couldn’t find a destination. In any case, we were able to change our plans and make the most of our time in Rio regardless of the several roadblocks we experienced. I can honestly say I am very proud of us as three white girls from Minnesota who were able to successfully navigate a foreign city in our own and flourish in the process. Overall while in Brazil, however, I learned to have a new massive appreciation for a culture I never thought I would get to experience in a million years. I think I can take back certain aspects that are characteristic of many Brazilians such as being forward with one’s feelings, dancing like nobody is watching, eating all sorts of different foods together, and even hugging my loved ones every chance I get. Brazil may seem like such a faraway place coming from the U.S. that is seen as a great Western power. It may also seem like it was only a small part of my experience in life, but Brazil is a huge country full of such interesting people that have called it home their whole lives and are proud to be Brazilian. I will forever maintain the connection I made with my host mom, and I really hope to go back to Salvador and visit her one day because she taught me so much.

​Bri: The most important lesson I took away from our trip to Rio is the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone. While the study abroad trip as a whole taught me this, I really thought about this after our time in Rio. During the program in Salvador, we were with a group of twenty students, two professors, host families, and of course, Clara Ramos. Our days were very detailed and well-planned out. Rio was the exact opposite. We had to plan our days ourselves, and Lucia and Pedro could only help via WhatsApp. This threw me out of my comfort zone. Yet, this is what I appreciated most about the Rio trip. We were forced to learn how to navigate the language barrier by ourselves, come up with a reasonable schedule, create alternative plans when weather became a problem, and explore a new city all on our own. I am very glad we ended our time in Brazil with a trip to Rio, because it gave me an opportunity to step out of comfort zone and learn more about what I am capable of. 

​Hailee: Overall, the program taught me many lessons, one being adaptability. I’m sure that the other two have written about this, but it was such an important lesson to learn and keep. There were times, even when things were planned for us in Salvador, when something would change our plans. I could either loosen up and go with the flow or I could resist and end up angry or stressed.  I quickly learned that it was better to go with the flow and roll with the punches. In Rio, our boat tour kept getting pushed back or cancelled. We found different things around the area to keep us busy while we waited for the tour guide to respond. Our plans changed many times throughout the day, and it was a great lesson in adaptability and international travel in general. I would say that I’ve changed as a person just from these lessons. I am much more adaptable to situations, and I have a wider worldview just from living in a different country and then comparing two cities within that country. I am super grateful for this program and the experiences it provided me. I met so many great people (like my host parents) and made so many amazing memories that I wouldn’t have otherwise. 

By Eliana Schmaltz

After a quick three weeks filled to the brim with travel, tummy warming food, and good company, I finally had some time to slow down and reflect on what I have all experienced, observed, and learned. I was surrounded by people that I have known for such a short amount of time but still felt so comfortable and at home. As I sat watching the kids play at the party, my mom would circle around every so often to send more food in my direction, a lot of which she made herself for days in advance. My sister, Ana, covers for me and tells mom I ate my hot dog when I didn’t. I think the only word to describe how I was feeling was content.
 
I realized there were only moms and their kids at the birthday party. I asked Ana about this, and she said the dads typically see events like this as a waste of time. This stood out to me because Ana had emphasized how these big birthday celebrations were culturally very popular. Reflecting on my three weeks here, I realized how heavily my experience was influenced by women. I lived with my mom, Ana, and Clair. Multiple times a day our neighbor Louanna would come over as well as Mom’s daughter Amanda, Amanda’s girlfriend, and another lady that lives downstairs. While I couldn't always understand the language, I immediately could tell they were all strong, confident women. My subtopic for the course was violence against minorities. In Brazil it is estimated that one woman was affected by violence every four minutes in 2017 and an average of 13 women were murdered each day (Araujo 2021, 123). While I originally learned that this spring, the statistic became even more painful after being in Brazil. In another study, it was found that positions such as head of the family, family provider, and exacerbated sexuality are social attributes of masculinity that incite gender-based violence (Silva 2020). The literature surrounding violence against women, points to gender norms and toxic masculinity as being the driving factors of this generational and cultural violence. Looking within my household, my Mom strongly followed gender norms. On her “get to know me” form, she listed housework as her hobbies.
 
Within our apartment complex, the residents typically were middle aged and white. This didn’t surprise me seeing as we lived in a nice building and racial inequity is a major issue in Brazil. In 2006, Brazil moved slightly down in the ranking of the world's most unequal countries when it was moved from eighth to tenth (Pacheco 2008, 714). There was consistently construction going on throughout our route to ICR. Every person we saw performing manual labor throughout our three weeks was Black. Little instances like this were observable almost every day. For a country with such blatant racial inequities, it is shocking to see these issues overlooked.
 
While homicide occurs globally, we can statistically see that it happens at higher rates in Brazil than in most countries. This is especially true when we look specifically at the LGBT community. According to the World Health Statistics 2019, there were an estimated 477,000 deaths globally due to homicides in 2016. Brazil accounted for around 12.8% of this total, representing the seventh largest homicide rate in the Americas (WHO 2018). My mom's biological children and our host sister Ana are all part of the LGBT community. They do not hide it in public, which I only thought of because of the high rate of violence. The overwhelming amount of violence against minorities that I read about in the U.S. was heartbreaking to read. However, now that I have met people that fall into these vulnerable groups, I am even more disturbed by the danger. If my siblings are anxious about being a part of the statistic, they do not show it at all. If anything, their confidence within themselves seems to reflect their confidence that this violence can change too.
 
 
Araujo, Victor, and Malu A. C. Gatto. 2022. “Can Conservatism Make Women More Vulnerable to Violence?” Comparative Political Studies 55, no. 1: 122-153.
 
Pacheco, Tania. 2008. “Inequality, Environmental Injustice, and Racism in Brazil: Beyond the 
Question of Colour.” Development in Practice 18, no. 6: 713–725.
 
Silva, Andrey Ferreira da, Nadirline Pereira Gomes, Júlia Renata Fernandes de Magalhães, 
Fernanda Matheus Estrela, Anderson Reis de Sousa, Jordana Brock Carneiro. 2020. 
“Social Attributes of the Male That Suscept the Violence by Intimate Partner.” Rev Bras  
Enferm 73, no. 6 (June): 1-7.
 
World Health Organization (WHO). 2018. “World Health Statistics 2018: Monitoring Health for the SDGs.” WHO. https://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2018/en/.

Eliana (Ellie) Schmaltz is a rising junior at the College of Saint Benedict. She is pursuing a degree in political science and sociology in the hopes to attend law school after graduation. After law school, she would like to be a family lawyer and give back to the community that raised her. Ellie is originally from a small town called Eden Valley located in Central Minnesota. She looks forward to learning more about Brazilian culture and experiencing everything the scenic country has to offer while studying abroad in Salvador.

By Ellie Nielsen & Morgan Ebel

Before coming to Brazil, the class completed research projects in different areas. Ours happened to be violence against minorities and the one we decided to focus on was violence against women. Women make up over half of Brazil’s population. Yet they face extreme violence day in and day out. In the nation it is estimated that one woman was affected by violence every four minutes in 2017 and an average of 13 women were murdered each day (Araujo 2021, 123). That was just in 2017. It is a trend in Brazil that violence altogether is very high, especially, through and since the pandemic. More specifically violence against women is continuing to rise as well. In a study published in 2016, researchers broke up their study into two periods 2007-2009 and 2011-2013. 58 municipalities in Brazil partook in the research. They found that between the two periods of time there was an overall 10 percent increase of female deaths by aggression (Ceccon 2016, 2965). Each year since, there has been an expected increase of femicide. Femicide is a concept that was first described by Diana Russel as being a murder of a woman due to the victim being a woman. Russel further accounted femicide to being an act of sexual terrorism on top of it working as a mechanism for keeping women under control (Ceccon 2016, 2964). To say the least, knowing these statistics, traveling to this new country, and Pedro getting robbed the first night was quite a terrifying experience for the females on this trip. The first topic to understand is how gender norms and masculinity play a role in the continual increase of violence against women. Another large facet that is laid out in this research is the relationship between one’s race and gender. Lastly, we will touch on the lecture given to us by Major Denice Santiago from the Ronda Maria da Penha organization.

Gender norms and toxic masculinity are leading causes of increased violence against women. A study was conducted to examine whether women delegated police stations in Salvador, Bahia created a more just system for women. The work looked at gender bias within the police force and found that its environment was more welcoming to women when run by women. The women in these systems were better fit to understand other female perspectives whereas men often felt the need to assert dominance and power. Prime aspects of the police system culture include hierarchal logic where positive value is associated with strong-arm versions of masculinity and negative value is associated with weakness and impotence in femininity (Hatzinger 2002, 146). Another study focused on the relationship between female morality and socioeconomic and demographic status in capital cities. This research found that women that acquire sexual and economic autonomy put themselves at greater risk of femicide as they place themselves against situations of subordination (Ceccon 2016, 2967). On the topic of race, black women in Brazil are two times more likely to face the risk of dying compared to white women (Ceccon 2016, 2965). Studies show that between 60 percent to 70 percent of murders committed against women are chalked up to be femicide and a nerving number of those femicides are young, poor, members of different ethnic minorities, migrants, or sex workers (Ceccon 2016, 2964). It is obvious that women within these minority groups are at an even greater risk of femicide.

Major Santiago first brought our attention to the many challenges women face in Brazil. Women deal with issues regarding wages, social equality, femicide, violence, and much more. Major Santiago brought us the statistic that in Brazil, women between the ages 25 to 44 years old, 21.5% more women finish high school, but earn 23.5% less than men. Further, women only make up 10% of CEOs in the country (Santiago, 2022). From this we can already tell that, in the larger society, women are held to different standards than men and are severely discriminated against. These are similar circumstances to those in the United States therefore, we can relate on some level. However, what we cannot be blind to is the alarming rates, as made clear above, women face violence in Brazil. It is because of these outstanding numbers that Ronda Maria da Penha was founded on March 8, 2015, on international women’s day and named after 11.340/06 Law Maria da Penha. Maria da Penha is a real woman whose husband tried to kill her, twice! Before this law was passed, when a wife would report an incident of violence, the husband would only get community service (Santiago, 2022). This law brought forward five types of violence – physical, moral, sexual, property or possession, and psychological. This is important to put forward in order to educate the public on domestic violence and abuse – which is one of the organization's goals. Along with the main cause being to protect women after they press charges against their partners. In the 7 years that Ronda Maria da Penha has been fighting this battle, all 4,000 women that have been protected by the organization have never faced violence again (Santiago, 2022). All in all, this institution has reached a massive number of people, yet Major Santiago reminds us that the society has a long way to go in regard to violence against women.

It is easy to see that there are serious issues surrounding violence against women in Brazil, and ones that have caused extremely unsafe environments for all women. Major Santiago touched on the inequality all women in Brazil face. However, we see that women of color are even more likely to fall victim to violence. We also acknowledge that many of these issues are often caused by toxic masculinity and the need for power and dominance. While there are some reforms happening, Brazil must continue to fight against these violence's to lessen its tolls. The relationship between race and gender is essential to continue learning about in the wake of this catastrophic violence epidemic.
 
Bibliography
Araujo, Victor, and Malu A. C. Gatto. 2022. “Can Conservatism Make Women More Vulnerable to Violence?” Comparative Political Studies 55, no. 1: 122-153.

Ceccon, Roger Flores, Ian Meneghel Danilevicz, Vania Naomi Hirakata, Stela Nazareth Meneghel, and Bruna Alexandra Rocha da Rosa. 2016. “Femicides: a study in Brazilian state capital cities and large municipalities.” Ciencia & saude coletiva 22, no. 9 (January): 2963-2970.

Hatzinger, Sarah. 2002. “Criminalizing Male Violence in Brazil’s Women’s Police Stations: From Flawed Essentialism to Imagined Communities.” Journal of Gender Studies 11, no 3: 243-251.

Santiago, Denice. “Challenges of Women in Brazil.” Class lecture at Institute Clara Ramos, Salvador, Brazil, May 26, 2022.

Ellie Nielsen is a rising junior at CSBSJU. She is a psychology major with a focus in criminal psychology, as well as a political science minor. She and her family are from Farmington, Minnesota. She likes to read, spend time outside, and be surrounded by friends and family. 

Morgan Ebel is a sophomore at the College of St. Benedict and the University of St. John’s University. She is originally from Farmington, Minnesota (no, she does not live on a farm). Morgan enjoys reading, working out (yoga, lifting, basketball, etc.) and spending time with her puppy named Teddy.
 
Morgan is pursuing a degree in political science and a minor in sociology. Hopefully attaining a law degree in the near future.

By Brianna Kreft

She joined the police force when she was eighteen years old. She founded a violence against women faction in the police force. She was the first Black woman to run for mayor of Salvador, Brazil. She is the one and only Major Denise Santiago.
 
During our second week in Brazil, we had the chance to meet with Major Denise Santiago for a lecture on the challenges of being a woman in Brazil, or more specifically, the violence that women face in Brazil. Major Denise is a major in the Salvador Police Department, and has been with the force for thirty-two years. She works in a division called Ronda Maria da Penha, which is dedicated to protecting women against violence.  Major Denise shared the history of the important legislation that forbids domestic violence against women and told us about the women’s violence prevention programs that Ronda Maria da Penha has founded.

First, Major Denise taught us about Lei 11.340/06, the piece of legislation that forbids domestic violence against women. Lei 11.340/06, or more commonly known as Lei Maria da Penha, is named after a woman who suffered excessive violence at the hands of her husband, but did not receive help from the police. Her husband tried to kill her not once, but twice. The first time, her husband shot her and she was paralyzed from the waist down. The second time, the husband tried to electrocute her while she was in the bath. After reporting both these tragedies, Maria still did not receive any assistance from the police. Major Denise said that this was because Brazil’s culture says that if a husband and wife—or partners of any sort—are arguing, outsiders are supposed to stay out of it. It is between the couple, and no one is supposed to intervene. That did not stop Maria. She gathered a group of women and took her case to the United States, where she was able to make enough noise that the Brazilian police force finally had to listen to her. Before this law, if women reported domestic violence, their partner would either not receive any punishment, or only be sentenced to community service. Thanks to Maria’s hard work and dedication, Lei 11.340/06 created protection for women against domestic violence.
 
Lei Maria da Penha outlaws five types of violence against women. The first is physical violence. This is the most common type for the police to reprimand, because it is the most visible. Women will have bruises, scars, or in extreme cases, even missing limbs. The second type of violence that is forbidden with this law is moral violence. This means that a male partner cannot use degrading language toward a woman in public. The key word here is in public. If a woman is being morally violated within private spaces, it is much more difficult for them to be protected. The third type of violence that is protected is sexual violence. Sexual violence, according to this law, applies not only to martial rape, but also to the man’s power over the woman’s use of contraceptives. It forbids the male partner from banning the female’s use of contraceptives. Patrimonial violence is the fourth type of violence that is protected under Lei Maria de Penha. This refers to violence against a woman’s possessions. A male partner cannot use violence against their female partner’s documents, money, or assets or any kind. The final type of violence is psychological violence. This is the most difficult kind of violence to protect against because it does not leave marks that the human eye can see. It is emotional abuse that damages a woman’s mental well-being and self-confidence. All five of these types of violence are protected against by Lei Mari de Penha.
 
Major Denise went on to tell us about the prevention work that the Ronda Maria da Penha facilitates. One of the prevention programs is called Espelho. Espelho is a board game that Major Denise created herself. Women play the game and encounter realistic situations that depict different kinds of domestic violence. After reading a card and its given situation, the woman chooses how she would act in that situation. If she asserts self-confidence, she moves ahead a few spaces. If she takes the side of the aggressor, she moves back a few spaces. This game is played with fellow women, to build confidence. Another prevention program headed by this police division is the Ronda Para Homens. This is a group of only male officers who talk with men about women’s violence in an attempt to dissuade future violence. Jogos de Futebol is another prevention program that the Ronda Maria da Penha has created. The division found that after soccer matches, domestic violence against women increased by 27%, because male partners got upset about the outcome of the match and took it out on the women. So, Ronda Maria da Penha increased their presence inside Bahia soccer stadiums, and led a soccer themed campaign with the slogan “violence against women is a serious penalty.” Finally, Ronda Maria de Penha leads a violence prevention during carnaval called Carnaval Com a Ronda. This program increases police presence in both private and public parties, focused on spotting violence against women.

Major Denise Santiago has been an agent of change for women’s violence in Brazil. When her days get hard, she remembers one word: Sororidade. This means sorority. Major Denise’s belief in sororidade led her to run for mayor of Salvador, because she knows that only women can create public policies that protect women. She believes that women must not compete with each other. Instead, they must lift up the sororidade. To end her lecture, Major Denise left us with a beautiful sentiment. She said that to her, sororidade is like a mosaic. We [women] are all one piece of this mosaic. When one woman has an achievement, we are all happy for her. When one of us is murdered, it hurts us all, because we are all pieces of one mosaic. It is this sororidade that connects all women and will protect all women.  

Brianna Kreft is a senior at CSB/SJU, majoring in Political Science, and minoring in Environmental Studies and Psychology. She is originally from Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Brianna enjoys learning about gender issues and women’s empowerment. She has participated in multiple research opportunities focused on gender-related social justice issue. Brianna looks forward to being able to learn more about the country that she has been researching for the past two years.

By Ryan Engel and Zach Jans

As we end our time here in Brazil, we are going to share some of our final observations and connections. We have made several connections from what we have seen and learned here to what we learned early this semester. However, we will continue to share a couple that we thought really stood out.

One lecture that stood out to us was the lecture by Major Denice. She has been a police officer in Brazil for 32 years, and she spoke to us about discrimination against women in Brazil. From her lecture, one thing that stood out to me was that the highest a woman can get in the police ranking is the third highest. No woman moves past that ranking. Right away, we thought it was crazy that a woman who has been a cop for 32 years is stuck in the same ranking and cannot go any higher. As we thought about it more, we realized that this idea significantly connected to the subtopic that we researched (violence against minorities). From our research earlier in the semester, there was a quote that greatly related to this note. The quote stated, ​“policewomen clearly saw themselves as discriminated against, as women, in their police careers—they could cite endless accounts of male counterparts who ‘didn’t think they could handle the tougher cases’ and so on” (Hautzinger, 2002, 247). The connection here is that male police officers do not take the women in their field as seriously as themselves. Therefore, this leads to women being stuck in the lower rankings of the police force. This exemplifies how women are discriminated against in the workplace and in society in Brazil.

Another lecture that stood out to us was a lecture regarding Trans Rights in Brazil. The biggest fact that was reiterated in this lecture was that murders of trans people happen most in Brazil. Along with that, our speaker believes that this issue is largely due to a systemic issue in the country and not an individualistic issue. It was interesting to hear that because we are having a lot of doubts about our system here in the US regarding racial discrimination and gun violence. However, a quote from my research earlier in the semester backs the statement of trans violence being a systemic issue. It states that “it is important to note that there was limited information on perpetrators, primarily due to the underreporting of these crimes. This happens due to the inefficiency of Brazil's criminal justice system, leading to a lack of effective measures to address homophobia” (Mendes, Furtado Passos da Silva, 2020, 1713). This quote highlights a great example of how the system is failing society here in Brazil. The underreporting and limited information on these crimes towards trans people just sends a larger message that the government and those in charge do not prioritize these specific minorities.

Another experience that we found interesting was our day trip to Cachoeira. While in Cachoeira, our visit to the Danneman cigar factory stood out to me because there were aspects that seemed to go against the norm of Brazil and also aspects that seemed to follow the gender norms in Brazil. When thinking back to the readings, I feel as if this quote by Silva comes to mind when thinking about the cigar factory. “The Oral History of the participants reveals that the dominance over women, position as head of the family, family provider, and exacerbated sexuality are social attributes of masculinity” (Silva, et al., 2020). I feel as if this quote is challenged a bit when it comes to the cigar factory. As men are usually the providers and women tend to stay home, every employee making cigars in the factory was a woman. This is something you typically do not see in Brazil.

Although females were the ones working and producing the cigars, there was still an aspect that followed the gender norms in Brazil. While all the females were at work and doing the manual labor, the person overseeing the whole process and making sure everything was running smoothly was a male. The man was not doing any of the dirty work and was there just doing what seemed to be “monitoring”. This followed most of the theories that we read about before coming to Brazil and showed the male dominance that all articles talk about. A quote from one of the readings that reminded me of this dominance was, “Even when women have paid work activities, and they have a superior financial situation than that of their partners, to the point of promoting the livelihood of the home, the role as head of the family usually remains as belonging to the man” (Silva, et al., 2020). This quote seems fitting because the females may have a paid work activity, but there is always a man in a superior power.

Works Cited
Hautzinger, Sarah. Rep. Criminalising Male Violence in Brazil's Women's Police Stations: From Flawed Essentialism to Imagined Communities 11. No. Vol. 11. 3. Carfax Publishing, 2002

Mendes, Wallace Góes, and Cosme Marcelo Furtado Passos da Silva. Rep. Homicide of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Travestis, Transexuals, and Transgender People (LGBT) in Brazil: a Spatial Analysis, 2020.

Silva, et al. “Social Attributes of the Male That Incite the Violence by Intimate Partner.” REBEn, 2020.

Ryan Engel is a sophomore at CSB/SJU, pursuing a major in Accounting/Finance with a minor in Communications. He is originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Ryan enjoys broadening his horizons by traveling and learning about different places, people, and cultures. He is also a sports fanatic, including playing soccer at Saint John's University. He looks forward to exploring a new part of the world while studying abroad in Brazil in May 2022

My name is Zach Jans and I am finishing my sophomore year at SJU. I am currently an Elementary Education and Political Science double major. I am from St. Michael, MN. A big reason I like learning about teaching and why I am excited to be a teacher is that I look forward to finding ways to motivate all students and be a role model for young students. I have always been involved with sports, playing baseball and basketball my whole life, until college. I stay active in intramurals. Outside of school, I like to golf, hangout with friends and family, and spend time at my cabin.