Blogging for Mulheres do Brasil

Today I'm blogging in support of ActionAid Brasil's new initiative, Mulheres do Brasil - Women in Brazil.

Through raising awareness about the particular challenges affecting women in Brazil, ActionAid is hoping that it can do more to help combat poverty, lack of access to education, sexual violence and domestic abuse with this new campaign.

When I visited Brazil earlier this year I spent plenty of time talking to some of the women ActionAid helps support and it was clear that there is a need for more focus on gender equality and tackling deeply ingrained problems. Everyone we spoke to was agreed - domestic violence is a major issue; economic inequality is a big worry. In fact, domestic violence is the leading cause of death for Brazilian women aged between 16 and 44, killing more than car accidents and cancer - and it is estimated that more than a million women are victims of abuse there every year. Although pioneering legislation like the Maria da Penha law - recently recognised by UN Women as a landmark reform in the struggle to end VAW - is making a difference for many women, domestic violence is still seen as a private matter which is kept hidden by families and communities, and a decrease in the number of incidents has not been seen for a decade.

ActionAid is monitoring the effects of anti-VAW legislation, funding training and education so that women can set up businesses and generate their own income using local resources, and running courses on equality and citizenship to help them become more aware of their rights and the opportunities available to them. This is vital work and I've seen first-hand that it's successful and providing inspiration and motivation to many, as well as the skills and knowledge to fight gender inequality, and help women to be independent, get back on their feet and provide for their families.

I'm blogging about this today not just because I feel it's important but also because I hope that it might encourage some of you to look into the work ActionAid Brasil is doing to help women and promote equality, take part in today's blogging or even consider offering your support by making a donation. Check out the #mulheresdobrasil hashtag on Twitter or ActionAid Brasil's tweets for more information and further blog posts.

Dispatches from Brazil: Part Three

Today people all over the world are celebrating IWD and I'm reflecting on the time I've spent in Brazil over the past week.

I arrived in the country with only a basic knowledge of gender issues here and really didn't know what to expect from the people we were going to be spending time with. I knew it was going to be interesting but it's turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience involving some truly amazing and inspiring people.

In time for this year's IWD, ActionAid commissioned some research among young people in the UK regarding their views on equality. It was eye opening for me because although I'm only just outside the age-group surveyed, a lot of my time spent discussing equality is spent discussing it with other feminists, activists and bloggers.

This means that I don't often get an idea of what your average young person thinks about it – or actually, whether they think about it at all.

What the research found was that young people have a lot to say about equality. They have concern about women in the workplace and sexual violence. They have concern about objectification. They have concern about freedom of choice.

But there's a disconnect between their concept of 'feminism' and their concept of 'women's rights'. The former: negative; the latter: positive. There was also concern that men were not 'allowed' to participate in fighting for equality, or that they find it hard to get involved because other men might react badly.

Above all, there's a feeling that the problems faced by women in other countries are not easy to relate to and therefore difficult to react to.

This isn't unusual. It might be hard to forge personal links with those from other cultures but if there's one thing this trip has taught me it's that it shouldn't be, because the issues we care about are exactly the same and that there really are so many similarities between the lives of young people here and the lives of young people in the UK.

When I talked to the people of Maré, when I talked to the people of Santarém, the issues they were always quick to highlight were equality in the workplace. Freedom of choice. Sexual violence. Pressures regarding appearance and the way women are portrayed in music and on television.

Of course, there are different cultural issues which come into play but at the heart of the matter is the belief than men and women are of equal worth and should have equal rights – and that gender inequality should not be an issue in the world today.

Now the word 'rights', somewhat sadly, makes a lot of people roll their eyes. But this week I've talked to people who say that a lot of women they know quite literally feel they don't have the right to report a rape to the police, or to leave an abusive partner. You characterize the fight for equal rights as 'silly' and 'going too far' and you do these women a great disservice.

One of the stand-out elements of the Bollocks to Inequality trip has been seeing just what young people can do when they're motivated to fight for change and are empowered as leaders in their communities. They have so much potential and passion and I felt proud to have the chance to hang out with them.

Despite the language barrier, despite the fact that to all intents and purposes our lives are a world apart, we had fun together and I think we were able to take away a lot. The unanimous affirmatives from them when we asked whether they want men and women to be treated equally, or if they think women should be free to live the lives they want for themselves showed their commitment and dedication to their community.

Watching Lucas and his friends immersed in their role as a knowledge base for gender issues made me pleased that ActionAid have supported their work and really happy that it will be replicated elsewhere.

This International Women's Day it's time to draw on our common experiences and know that even from thousands of miles away, we can support each other. Know that even if we're young, or from a poor background, or a guy who's anti-sexism - our voices can be heard. And know that when we fight for equality, it's not in vain.

Check out more on the equality debate by visiting the EQUALS website.

This post originally appeared at BitchBuzz.

Top: Lucas Gomes and members of GADA at Santarém carnival. Above: Me with fellow blogger Shan Phearon, Lucas and friends at Alter do Chão.

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Photos: Eduardo Martino / Documentography / ActionAid.

Dispatches from Brazil: Part Two

Our trip to Brazil is certainly shaping up to be a trip of contrasts. After the frenetic pace and crowds of Rio we've spent the past two days getting away from it all in the northern state of Parà, right on the Amazon in the city of Santarém.

It's a place which is as far removed from Rio as you can imagine. It took us three flights and a whole day to get there, for a start. The pace of life is slower, the streets have a sleepy atmosphere and the heat makes stepping outside feel like stepping into an oven.

But in just two short days we've managed to fit in a night at carnival, a trip right into the Amazonian countryside and some well-earned chillout time on a strip of white sand in the middle of the river which was unforgettable. There were rowing boats, water lapping at the sand and cold beers. Leaving was hard.

That's not all we've been doing, however. The majority of our visit here was spent with Santarém's GADA youth group – formed a year and a half ago to provide training to young people in issues surrounding sexual health, reproductive rights and gender violence. ActionAid has supported the group through training and although it's no longer providing help, the plan is to replicate GADA's work in Santarém at the centre in Maré.

And it's truly fantastic work. Something I feel needs pointing out right now is that I have genuinely never met teens of both genders who are so motivated and well-informed about these issues and what they're doing in their community.

They spend their time talking to people in doctor's waiting rooms, presenting talks at schools, handing out leaflets and thinking of strategies to effect change among their peers. As we spent time with them, it was plain to see how their lives have been impacted by the project.

They told us how they've set up a system of contacts and helplines to enable young people to report sexual abuse or violence, of how they've had the opportunity to travel to events all over the country and of how they've seen their friends and families changed.

Plenty of you will be familiar with the outrage expressed by certain UK newspapers when it has been suggested that schoolchildren should be educated about sexual violence. I've blogged about it more than once, focusing on outrage at proposals for education about domestic violence and also at Rape Crisis's packs for schools.

The former story lambasted the government's 'equalities agenda' and the obviously nefarious influence of feminism in Westminster. It was the first thing I thought of as I sat watching the GADA group perform a fantastic presentation to a group of younger children at a church-run club about sexual violence and gender roles. Here was an age appropriate presentation. It had the children engaged. And they were given resources which they could take home to show their parents.

It's the sort of thing that would have many a right-thinking Middle Englander apoplectic with rage, but in Santarém, the reaction is overwhelmingly positive and to be honest, it really hammered it home to me why we fight for equality and that when we do, it works.

18-year-old Lucas Gomes is one of the group members we spent a lot of time with while in Santarém. Whether he's talking to children at the church club, showing us the videos GADA has made and chatting to us about his life he's incredibly open and confident in his opinions.

“I am really proud to be part of GADA,” he told us. “We live in a really sexist society and men treat women like they are nothing. But I have been able to help people understand about gender violence and my friends now come to me for advice, particularly about sexual health.”

Like his contemporaries in Maré, Lucas thinks that domestic violence is a major issue but also feels that people are starting to take action against it more and more, as women in the community become aware that they have the same legal rights as men.

“Following one of the activities two of my friends did, they helped a girl to tell the police that she had been a victim of sexual violence,” he said.

“We all felt motivated to help this girl and it made us feel happy that our work is not in vain.”

As we listened to Lucas talk about his desire to see gender equality among the people he knows, I thought how much of a shame it is that young people, as mentors and community educators, are tragically underused.

All too often they're seen as apathetic or as troublemakers. Work like the project GADA has implemented in Santarém proves that this isn't the case and that young people can in fact be amazing advocates for social change and education. The teens we spoke to have had the opportunity to attend international conferences and it has enabled some of them to find jobs. They're so proud to be part of such an initiative but for all of them, the best thing is seeing other people impacted by what they do.

This post originally appeared at BitchBuzz. Image: Lucas Gomes at home in Santarém.

Photos: Eduardo Martino / Documentography / ActionAid

Dispatches from Brazil: Part One

Spending my first full day in Brazil in a favela was something of an experience. Maré is an enormous community with, it's thought, as many as 180,000 inhabitants. And although most of them are hardworking, law-abiding people, it's drug gangs who run the show in Maré.

It was safe for us to walk around with some of the people who do community work in the favela, but we couldn't take photos or go off on our own. Maré has many invisible lines – territories controlled by different gangs which residents cannot cross without trouble.

Maré is a prime example of the enormous wealth disparity which exists in Brazil. It's not far from a university and close to some of the city's richer neighbourhoods, but its inhabitants live in poverty. Social problems are rife and educational attainment is low.

Through evening classes which help them with studying, the ActionAid project in Maré has enabled 800 young people to go to university – an amazing achievement for such a community, where only 0.8% of people end up as graduates.

ActionAid is set to begin a new initiative here, getting young people to discuss their rights, equality and sexual health. We talked to some of the teenagers taking part in university preparatory classes at the community centre and listened to what they had to say about the issues affecting them.

Samara is 18 years old and has just finished a course in multimedia. She is also passionate and outspoken about equality.

“Inequality is a problem right from when are being raised,” she told us.

17-year-old Raphael is also not afraid to speak out about gender inequality and believes that Brazilian society in general is very sexist.

“Something that really bothers me is men who beat women,” he said. “Human beings can be such animals sometimes.”

So what happens when there is a problem with domestic violence in Maré?

“There are people who like to pretend it doesn't happen,” said Raphael. “Often they will blame it on alcohol and say it only happened because he was drunk, so that's okay.”

“It depends on how you've been raised,” added Samara. “In the past women were brought up to be submissive and stay in the kitchen all day, but things are changing. In a relationship I think you should give each other space and respect – and not be jealous or controlling.”

During our day in Maré we also had the opportunity to talk to some residents who have been working at the centre for a number of years. They had a lot to say about the issue – and a lot of ideas as to how it should be tackled.

Shyrlei is 27 and started going to the centre at the age of 17. She has studied education at university and has recently been made a director of the centre.

“To create gender equality we also need social and financial equality,” she told us.

“Equality doesn't just mean women doing the same things as men. We need to create discussions about women's empowerment. Many women who suffer violence feel that they can't leave their man; this is something which is culturally inbuilt.”

We asked Shyrlei how people in her community feel about women's rights and feminism and how they react if it's brought up.

“In Brazil we are evolving – when it comes to discussing women's rights we are not as advanced as some countries,” she said.

“Some of my friends who are feminists, I think they go about discussing things in the wrong way and it just pushes people away. Here, discussing gender is like opening up a wound so we have to be mature enough to know when to fight and how.”

One issue which was often brought up by the people we spoke to was financial independence. A major factor in gender equality for them is the fact that many women lack the skills and confidence to be financially independent and therefore must rely on men to live – something which obviously becomes a problem when violence and abuse happens.

Shyrlei told us that although specialist women's police stations have been set up to deal with gender violence, they are not as effective as they could be because women are reluctant to report crimes due to being treated badly by the police. Historically, they have often not been believed if it was their father or husband who is being violent.

She feels the city needs women's shelters and ways of getting women back on their feet financially after leaving a partner.

Felipe, 31, has been running workshops teaching graffiti and breakdancing in Maré for ten years. As a teacher, he sees a lot of issues which he thinks need addressing.

“In the community where I live and work there are differences between men and women which are very evident,” he said.

“There is violence against women, which I consider a critical element. Sometimes sexism is even promoted by teachers themselves. They associate femininity with inferiority.”

When we asked him how gender inequality manifests itself in Maré, he said:

“It's domestic violence and very hidden. You don't know what's happening and who's committing it. It gets buried in a family and there is a culture of fear.”

But Felipe is positive that gender inequality can be tackled through education and culture, whether that's young people learning about their rights and taking what they've learnt back to their families, or some of the city's female hip hop artists who are making music with a positive message about women.

One thing all the people we spoke to were sure of was that things are slowly changing - attitudes, openness to discuss issues and expectations of a woman's role in society. What they'd like to see is even bigger changes and more education to make them happen.

This post originally appeared at BitchBuzz. Photo: Eduardo Martino / Documentography / Action Aid

I'm off to Brazil

This is a post which goes some way towards explaining why it's been pretty quiet around here of late - and also why I won't be around for the next week or so.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. What began in 1911 as a day when men and women alike attended rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote and an end to discrimination is now officially celebrated in 70 countries and marked with a variety of events across the globe. Although there are so many differences in the issues women face worldwide and the concerns they have, March 8th is a day when we can all celebrate who we are, call for equality and respect and try to bring about change.

While there are hundreds of IWD events taking place across the UK in the next few weeks, the country as a whole doesn't go in for commemorating the day in a big way and that's why I was so excited to hear about the work of the EQUALS coalition. Spearheaded by Annie Lennox, it's a partnership of charities like the Fawcett Society, ActionAid and Women For Women International and is working with stars like Paloma Faith and V V Brown. And this year, EQUALS is putting on events, asking big questions and trying to get people talking about women's rights today and what it really means to be 'equals'.

It's because of EQUALS and its partnership with ActionAid that I'm off to Brazil on March 1st as part of the Bollocks to Inequality initiative to look at gender equality from a different perspective and gain insight into the way making it a priority can really impact communities for the better. As it stands, there are many, many countries where being born female puts you at an incredible disadvantage, but working to empower women has a markedly positive effect on society as a whole.

So why is this? It's not difficult to imagine why when you look at the stats. 70% of the world's poor are women. Gender-based violence causes more death among women and girls than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war.And while women do 66% of the world's work and produce 50% of its food, they earn just 10% of its income and own 1% of its property. Change the outcome for women and you can impact a nation.

ActionAid has been doing sterling work on gender equality for a number of years and has been working in Brazil since 1999. Much of its work centres on combating poverty, empowering communities and improving prospects for young people. The country struggles with extreme income inequality, meaning that the richest 10% of it inhabitants earn almost half its income. The poorest 10% receive less than 1.2%.

We'll be meeting young people to find out how their lives are being changed by work on gender equality - such learning about safe sex, getting better access to education and speaking out about sexual violence. In order to do this we'll be visiting one of the most poverty-stricken and dangerous favelas in Rio de Janeiro - and a city on the banks of the Amazon. We'll be talking to some opinionated musicians and seeing how local youth are using carnival to spread their message about rights, respect and equal relationships.

In the UK today, women's rights don't always get the best press. I've been taking part in events for International Women's Day for a number of years and it's surprising how much contempt will show when you explain what the day's all about. Many people find it hard to talk about feminism without seeing it as a negative rather than a positive, a destructive rather than a constructive set of beliefs. They wonder how they can impact the lives of people on the other side of the world and often end up thinking it's too much hassle to bother with.

Despite the negativity, it's my greatest wish that through projects like Bollocks to Inequality, through attending events, getting involved and taking a stand we can really get people talking about gender equality and discussing just why it's so important. It's a worldwide issue, it affects us all and it's worth fighting for. Over the next nine days I'll be keeping you updated on what we get up to in Brazil and how it shows just why equality matters. You'll also be able to read the latest on what we're doing on the ActionAid blog or via the #bollockstoinequality hashtag on Twitter.

This post originally appeared at BitchBuzz. Image via Cyro A Silva's Flickr.