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Number 143, August 25, 1994.

CHILDREN

- 60% of prostitutes in Santos are children

Studies indicate a vicious circle of domestic and sexual violence among young Brazilian girls that leads them to run away from home and involves them in prostitution, drug addiction and makes them victims of AIDS.

A study of child prostitution carried out by psychologist Maria Aparecida Gimez of the Catholic University of Santos (State of Sao Paulo) reveals that 6,000 of the 10,000 prostitutes in Santos (a port town 72 kms south of Sao Paulo city) are children and adolescents between 10 and 16 years of age. A majority fled violent homes or the streets where they were victims of incest; 40% now have the AIDS virus and 60% use drugs. Many young girls begin to work in prostitution for economic reasons having sexual relations in exchange for food such as rice or sardines.

Interviews with 300 prostitutes revealed frightening statistics. More than 70% of the adolescent prostitutes believe that you could not get AIDs from someone you love. For every US $5 earned in prostitution, US $2 are spent on drugs. A majority of the girls had their first pregnancy at age 15 and all had at least one abortion.

A similar study conducted in Salvador, State of Bahia, by sociologist Marlene Vaz, revealed that 80% of all child prostitutes are black, poor and know little about sexually-transmitted diseases. For most, the use of a condom depends on the desire of the man. Jessica, 18 years of age, stated that men prefer younger girls and pay more not to use a condom. Condoms in Brazil are very expensive and cost four to five time more than similar ones in Europe or in the United States.

The city of Santos has developed an education program for the adolescent prostitutes. It consists of workshops that teach a skill such as hairdressing, video, silk-screen and a program including psychological help where the youth discuss sexuality, family and life-issues. However, the source of the problem - social, economic and ethnic disparity, remains to be addressed.

- Children are killed and mutilated in the State of Alagoas.

During the last three years, 200 minors have been assassinated in Maceio the capital of the State of Alagoas; 27 have been assassinated during 1994. This denouncement was made on August 12 by the National Movement of Street Children (Movimento Nacional de Meninos e Meninas de Rua).

Coinciding with the denouncement was a confirmation by the police that they had found the bodies of two more assassinated youth in Maceio. The youth were approximately 14 years old and were subjected to sexual violence before they were assassinated. The majority of the assassinations of minors in the state have taken place in Maceio and Arapiraca. During the last eight months some of the genitals have been cut off the bodies of some of the male victims. For this reason the police believe that a sexual maniac may be involved in the crimes.

According to the National Movement of the Street Children, approximately 1250 children are found on the streets of Maceio on a typical day in search of food. Legal expert, Wanderlino Nogueira, who specialized in the rights of minors denounced in recent days that in the States of Bahia, Alagoas and Pernambuco the number of children and adolescents on the streets has been increasing. He claims that the only state where the Children' Statute is being respected is in Rio Grande do Sul.

WOMEN'S ISSUES

- Women in power.

At the University of Sao Paulo (USP), 98 master's and doctorate theses on the theme of women were presented in 1990 and 1991. Fifty percent of these were defended in the School of Medicine and dealt with physical and psychological health issues of women. Rosa Rossini, professor of geography at USP and coordinator of MEMGE (Nucleus of Women's Studies and Gender Relations) concludes that scientific investigations of women's issues should not be only based on intellectual and health issues but more grounded in women's struggles in the political, social and economic spheres.

For the time being, Brazilian women are on the margins of political power but are learning how to lobby. The "lipstick lobby" succeeded in promulgating women's rights in the 1988 Constitution. However, in practice, much remains to be done. Rural women workers are lobbying for the right to land titles and inclusion in social security. Cfemea (Feminist Center of Studies), a non-governmental organization has taken the lead in communicating with Brazilian women's groups to push for real change in the revision of the Constitution related to women's rights.

Women make up 51% of the Brazilian population. 39% of Brazilian women work outside the home. Yet, even with the increasing numbers of women in the areas of law, journalism. medicine and business, there are no women on the board of directors of the Lawyers Association of Brazil (OAB), the Brazilian Journalism Association (ABI), National Conferences of Industry and Commerce (CNI, CNC) nor the Federal Council of Medicine. Of the 5,000 non-governmental organizations in Brazil, 115 deal with women's issues. Women have succeeded to a greater extent in labor unions where they make up 30% of the direction of CUT, a center which unifies worker's unions. They are fighting for day-care services, maternity leave and a just salary (Brazilian women earn 43% less than men for the same job).

Of the 4,974 Brazilian cities, only 171 have women mayors. There are no women state governors, no women judges on the federal supreme court nor superior courts, and only two women senators, In an August, 1994 study conducted by the VEJA magazine, 70% of women and 53% of men surveyed concluded that Brazilian society would be more just if women had political power. Conscientization and formation of women are the main goals of the 3,000 women's groups that have spontaneously sprung up across the country in past years. The hope of many of these groups is that women will not only participate but also direct in the political, economic and social spheres.

URBAN VIOLENCE

- Pressure on armed forces to combat urban violence.

A report in the "Jornal do Brasil" on August 21 claims that the army has consulted different segments of society to measure the reaction to its possible intervention against violence especially in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In order to justify the intervention of the army a polemical thesis is gaining ground - the shanty towns (favelas) have transformed themselves into "free" territories where the police many no longer enter and where drug traffickers have formed what in fact is regarded by many as a parallel government. "There are small states within the state. Only the armed forces could re-establish order" commented the president of the State Justice Tribunal, Antonio Carlos Amorim in the report.

In the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on the same day a report states that the army would not combat violence and drug-trafficking in Rio. According to the report comments made by various military commanders in the Rio area to the newspaper made it clear that they believed that police work is not a function of the army and that the soldiers have not been trained for such a task. The "Folha" claimed also that the Minister for the Army, Zenildo de Lucena was also against the proposal of the use of the army to combat crime and violence. Contradicting these comments is a report in the "O Globo" on August 22. The Minister General of the Armed Forces, Admiral Arnaldo Leite Pereira, commented that the armed forces are prepared to combat violence in Rio de Janeiro if they are requested to do so by Governor Nilo Batista and authorized by President Itamar Franco. Admiral Pereira said that he believed that the armed forces could help in emergency situations.

Crime and violence have increased so much recently especially in poorer urban areas that amongst residents in such areas the demand to send in the troops to clean up has increased. This demand has become more popular in recent weeks when many of the candidates running for the October elections defend an army intervention as a solution to the problems. Human rights groups are worried by this trend. They feel that if the army intervenes in such areas its presence and influence will become more and more felt in the country.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES

- Contagious diseases and recent assassinations responsible for deaths of Yanomami.

According a statement of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) released on August 18, 26 Yanomami have died because of contagious diseases in recent months and four were assassinated on August 09.

The principal disease responsible for the deaths of the 26 indians was malaria according to functionaries of the National Health Foundation which is part of the Ministry of Health. According to the CIMI statement the Foundation is responsible in large part for the deaths because of its disorganization and the lack of preparation of the technicians who attend the indians. Functionaries of the Foundation believe that more than 26 Yanomami died from infectious diseases during recent months even though its president denies this fact.

Functionaries of the Foundation also denounce that its coordinator in Roraima where the majority of the Yanomami are concentrated "does not even know what malaria is". He was responsible for sending to the indigenous area technicians without giving them a basic orientation about the work they should do there.

The superintendent of the federal police in Roraima, Sidney Lemos, has informed the Diocese of Roraima that four Yanomani were assassinated during a conflict between the indians and the gold-prospectors who have invaded their area. Three were clubbed to death and one died from bullet wounds. According to the federal police the assassinations happened on August 09 during a celebration in an indian village in the Xiriana region of the Yanomami territory.

Indians from two other villages were participating in the celebration. These latter two groups brought arms and alcohol donated by the gold prospectors to the celebration. According to the CIMI statement the deaths were incentivated by the gold prospectors because the Yanomami from the Xiriana region had denounced they had invaded the indigenous area. The federal police is carrying out an investigation of the deaths.

RURAL ISSUES

- Seminar on rural slavery.

Between August 23 and 25 a seminar dealing with rural slavery in Brazil took place in the Cultural Space of the House of Deputies in Brasilia. The theme of the seminar was "Slave Work Never Again" ("Trabalho Escravo Nunca Mais") and it was coordinated by the Permanent Forum Against Rural Violence and its objective was to seek to abolish definitively the slave conditions to which many rural workers are still subjected. The seminar stressed not only the importance of denouncements of slave labor but also the need for solutions.

On the first day of the seminar a group of workers from different parts of Brazil who have been subjected to slave labor as well as representatives from trade unions and other organizations which have combated slave labor described their experiences. On August 24 organizations such as the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), the Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG), the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) and the National Department of Rural Workers of CUT (DNTR/CUT) described their work. Journalists who reported such conditions also described their experiences. On the afternoon of August 25 and on the following day the discussion focused on the role of the state to eliminate slave work conditions.

On August 25 the Portuguese-language version of a book dealing with the theme of slave labor in Brazil, published last year in England by journalist Alison Sutton, was launched. The title is "Trabalho Escravo no Brasil" and was originally prepared at the request of Anti-Slavery International. In a message to mark the launching of the book the CPT stated "Activists in the area of human rights in Brazil know that for a long time now and even today more than a century after the promulgation of the Aurea Law (the Brazilian law which prohibited slavery) thousands of Brazilians are enslaved".

CHURCHES

- Solidarity with Haiti.

In the July 28 edition of NEWS FROM BRAZIL we reported on the gesture of a Guatemalan priest, a Canadian priest and Brazilian nun, Sister Santina Perin, who joined 69 Haitian refugees in a small boat. The Church personnel hoped to call international attention to the plight of the Haitian people by their act.

After 13 hours on the high seas, the boat was intercepted by the US navy and the occupants were taken to the American base in Guantanamo, Cuba. In the base, the priests and Sister Perin visited the seven camps where almost 17 thousand Haitians are accommodated. They were then taken to Miami by the American authorities. Arriving in Miami they were informed that the Haitian authorities would not allow their return.

On Sunday next, August 28, a celebration offering solidarity to Sister Perin who has recently returned to Brazil is planned. The celebration will take place in the Sao Paulo cathedral. Another such celebration is planned for September 18 in solidarity with the Haitian people.

HEALTH

- New law proposal would require that names of AIDS victims be published in Rio de Janeiro.

Representatives of various NGOs working with the AIDS question in the city of Rio de Janeiro handed in a signed protest to the president of the state legislative assembly, Deputy Jose Nader, on August 23. They protested against the law project which if passed would demand that the State Secretariat of Health publish the names of AIDS victims in two of the chief newspapers in Rio as well as in the official state government newspaper.

The law proposal was presented by Deputy Alberto Brizola. On the afternoon of August 23 the NGOs organized a protest in front of the state legislative assembly.

POLITICS

- Survey shows that Cardoso could now be elected in first round.

According to a survey carried out by Datafolha and published in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on August 23, Fernando Henrique Cardoso would have 43% of the votes if the presidential election took place now. Lula (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva) was listed with 23% of the votes in the survey; Leonel Brizola with 5%; Orestes Quercia and Eneas Carneiro both with 4% and Esperidiao Amin with 2%. Thus Cardoso has more votes that the other candidates combined and if this trend repeats itself on election day (October 03) he would have won the election already in the first round - according to Brazilian election rules there is a second round between the two highest voted candidates if none of them attains 50% in the first round.

At the launch of the new monetary plan on July 01 of which he was author, Cardoso had an estimated 21% of the votes and Lula had 38%. All political commentators claim that the economic plan and the government propaganda which accompanied it helped Cardoso's campaign significantly. The government also threw in its support in favor of Cardoso. According to a report in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on August 25 the electoral justice court has convoked two ministers to explain the use of their ministries to support Cardoso. Mines and Energy Ministry, Alexis Stepaneko will be asked to explain two notes in which he requests state organs to favor Cardoso's campaign. The Minister for Regional Integration, Aluizio Alves, will be required to explain a public statement he made saying that the mega irrigation project which he plans to start on the Sao Francisco river will bring significant support on election day. Alves has a son running for federal deputy, a nephew running for state governor and another nephew running for state deputy. The Procurator General of the Republic, Aristides Junqueira, stated that he also would demand an investigation within the next few days of the use of the government resources in favor of Cardoso.

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