Women as Domestic Workers and Police Officers in Bahia

By ​Jennifer Agustin Ambrocio

Photo of a meal prepared by the maid in my host family house.

Living with a host family throughout these past couples of weeks, I have seen gender roles were clear to the point where I don't have to ask what each person's role is in the family. Within that I could also tell that we had a helper or also known as “maid” with us in the morning from Monday to Friday, which I met the first week I got here. She was the one who helped cook and clean the entire apartment by herself and sometimes with the help of my host mom. At first, I felt uncomfortable because as the oldest Latina in my family back in Minnesota, either I was the one to do that, or my mom would clean and cook and serve the male members of my family. I did not expect the helper to serve us food, especially me.

Just by being a women in the world, but specially in Latin America, women tend to wear many hats in which are ways were they are looked down on just because they identify as a women, and there are many struggles which women tend to go through in order to maintain a normal life in society now adays. Being a woman brings many challenges to the table when it comes to injustices, racial inequality, discrimination, being looked down on. Black women are still the main providers of domestic work (Acciari 67). In the article, Practicing Intersectionality: Brazilian Domestic Workers’ Strategies of Building Alliances and Mobilizing Identity it says “in 2013, paid domestic work, which includes any personal service provided to a private household such as cleaning, cooking, and caring for children or the elderly, employed 14 percent of all economically active women and 22 percent of all economically active black women, being the largest sector of employment for the latter. Of the estimated 6.4 million domestic workers, 93 percent are women and 61 percent are black women (Acciari 67). Because many of these workers come from poor black women descendants of slaves that creates a generation chain for them to continue what they mothers and sisters did in the big cities, since many did not have education to look for a much better job. The term “domestic employee” was often referred into legislation but also referred as a “maid.” Brazil is one of the largest employers of domestic worker which explains why many families have domestic workers in their homes.

The lecture on social disparities, racism, and health disparities in Brazil with Professor Clarice Mota talked about a variety of topics but what stood the most to me was her talk on women on the racial inequalities in health. She said that “black women have a higher immortality rate, pregnancy rates, and their own health which is 2.5 times higher among black women than white women” (Mota 2024). Which also affects the way they get treated in the hospital on pregnancy as doctors tend to use low dose of anesthesia on black skinned women, and the use of women through the screenings of breast cancer also created pain and disrespect. Black women are treated differently in prenatal and pregnancy-related care and treatment by health professionals. The Institute for Policy Studies claims “For black and poor women, all oppressions seem like the same thing. To tackle the subject of gender is to go through one of the toughest doors: women, especially female leaders who are confrontational, suffer violently at the hands of dealers, who see them merely as sex objects” (Zibechi 2010). Which not only women are seen less than human beings but as objects at times.

There are many ways to create a safe environment for women who are major targets wherever they go. One of them is having a law, Lei Maria da Penha in Brazil, for those women who have been through any kind of violence. This law is very useful because it serves as the starting point to create a safe spaces for women to be heard and understood but most importantly to have someone who is by their side when things get rough. Our speaker from the Bahia police department talked to us about her role and what the law does and serves those in need. Just in the 1930s women had the right to vote, in the 1920s women were able to run for office, and only 20% have held a position in the local, state, and national level. Which is small because only 51% of the population is women, and recently in 2006 the first bathroom was built in the senate for women. Which became a huge accomplishment since we know have women in office and many will serve as connections to be able to create legislation in office and such.

Another organization is the movement is to have created a women’s organization, the Guerreras Sin Techo (Homeless Female Warriors), on March 8, 2005. They did it “to denounce and combat the racism and sexism that exists within the MSTB and society,” because it pained them to discover that the same thing occurred inside the movement as outside (Zibechi 2010). Women till this day keep serving our communities, which should always be respected and always appreciated, that is why we should keep working towards rights for those underrepresented.
 
Sources
Acciari, Louisa. 2021. Practicing Intersectionality: Brazilian Domestic Workers’ Strategies of Building Alliances and Mobilizing Identity. Latin American Research Review 56(1), pp. 67–81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25222/larr.594

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

Lecture on “Social Disparities, Racism, and Health Inequalities in Brazil” with Professor Clarice Mota (May 24,2024).
​
Zibechi, Raul. “The Homeless in Bahia: The Utopia of ‘Good Living.’” Institute for Policy Studies, 1 May 2014, ips-dc.org/the_homeless_in_bahia_the_utopia_of_good_living/.

---

---

Jennifer Agustin Ambrocio is a Senior at the College of Saint Benedict, double majoring in Political Science and Hispanic Studies with a minor in Latin Latino American Studies. She is originally from Bloomington, Minnesota. Jennifer enjoys watching and reading the news at a international level. She studied abroad 3 times already, and Brazil will be the 4th time.

---