Violence Against Women in Bahia

By Tania Salgado

Walking around the streets of Salvador I never felt unsafe. I felt uncomfortable at times when people would stare at me, and I couldn’t tell if they were staring because they could tell I’m American or because I’m a woman. I had an instance where a man was riding on his bike, and he had yelled something at me. I looked over and his eyes were stuck on me. I quickly looked away and looked down to see what I was wearing. It’s odd that it was my first instinct to see if what I was wearing was the reason he had yelled something at me.  It is an unfortunate reality for women all over the world to think what they do, say, wear could be seen as an invitation for men to comment. Maybe the man on the bike wasn’t even talking to me or catcalling me, but he had made me super uncomfortable by the way his eyes were glued on me.
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During our stay we had a lecture scheduled with Lieutenant-Colonel Denice Santiago. Unfortunately, she was unable to be there for personal reasons, so we met with Major Alcilene instead. The talk was super interesting as she explained what Ronda da Maria da Penha is. Ronda da Maria da Penha is an organization that protects women from domestic violence. It creates a bridge between security forces and civil society. She emphasized that differences aren’t a problem. It is the hierarchy of gender and race and the inequality that comes with it that is the problem. She goes on to explain that women don’t reach the top, white men do. She explains that it isn’t a problem that white men are at the top, it’s a problem that it’s always white men. This problem of a hierarchy draws back to the discussion we had in class about Afro-Brazilian feminists and White Brazilian feminists. This quote puts into perspective the hierarchy, “Although Afro-Brazilian women face daily discrimination in white and black male-dominated spaces, it is imperative to understand how racial and gendered prejudice—and even violence—have been produced by white Brazilian feminists” (Swift 2017). The idea of a hierarchy also reminds me of the talk with Clarice Mota on social disparities, racism and health inequalities in Brazil. She had mentioned that when women have miscarriages there is two ways they are handled. If you are a White woman you are treated with care and empathy. If you are a Black woman, you are not treated with the same care and are accused of self-provoking it.

Major Alcilene continues to explain the different types of violence that women face. There is physical, sexual, moral, psychological, and economical. Physical violence means applying physical harm to someone and leaving physical marks like bruises, scars, or easy to see marks. Sexual violence can be a matter of martial rape. Moral violence is similar to psychological violence in the way that words are being used to harm someone. Partners make the woman feel like they are less than and call her names and tell her things that lower her self-esteem. Economical violence consists of takings someone’s money or even any assets that they have. It doesn’t necessarily have to be monetary it can also be anything that is of property to the woman like clothes and makeup.  

According to Major Alcilene calls about domestic abuse/violence against women is the 2nd to 3rd highest call to police in Bahia. There are 22 organization in Bahia to help domestic abuse. Major Alcilene couldn’t stress enough that violence against women is a public health issue. It should be a collective job to work against battling violence against women. This made me think about how music can have an influence in people’s behavior. In an article written by Pinho, they touch on how there was a proposal in 2012 aimed to prevent public funds to pay artists who in their work supposedly demean the image of women and encourage violence against them (2020, 11). It is great that this issue is well known and that there are measures taken to prevent more violence from happening. It is the responsibility of the state to look into any reports of domestic violence because of Lei Maria da Penha.
Violence against women is a topic to be taken seriously. You are either with the victim or the oppressor and there is no in between. If you do not speak up about people who belittle women, share private explicit photos, and abuse woman then you are only contributing to the problem.
 
Sources:
Lecture on Violence against Women and Lei Maria da Penha in Brazil with Major Denice Santiago. May 24, 2024.

Lecture about Social Disparities, Racism and Health Inequalities in Brazil with Professor Clarice Mota. May 24, 2024.
 
Pinho, Osmundo. “Race and Cultural Politics in Bahia.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, 2020.
 
Swift, Jaimee. 2017. “Afro-Brazilian Feminists and the Fight for Racial and Gender Inclusion - AAIHS.” 2017. https://www.aaihs.org/afro-brazilian-feminists-and-the-fight-for-racial-and-gender-inclusion/.