Brazil does not participate in UN declaration for women’s rights

The Brazilian government did not agree to participate in the joint declaration, proposed by the UN (United Nations) Human Rights Council, for the protection of women’s rights and the promotion of gender equality.

Signed by 53 UN member countries, the document addresses topics such as feminist movements, gender violence, and sexual health. The latter was perhaps the main reason for Brazil’s non-adherence.

According to a note from Itamaraty, the references to sexual rights in the document are vague and non-specific, opening room for interpretation. In the note, the government claims that it recognizes the importance of some advocated agendas, but that it “does not support references to ambiguous terms and expressions, such as sexual and reproductive rights”.

The news, besides coming in the month of celebration of women’s achievements and fight for equal rights, goes against the moment in which the rates of domestic violence against girls and women have increased due to the pandemic.

One of the concerns is that the country will follow a path of regression in relation to the laws protecting women, as it happened with Turkey recently, which withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, an international agreement aimed at promoting gender equality and carrying out actions to eliminate violence against women.

It is worth remembering that the Brazilian government had also already entered into disagreement with the UN and refused to adhere to the Declaration on the Right to the Environment.

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