Number 56, December 3, 1992

WOMEN

- Congressional commission reports on violence against women.

The final report of the Parliamentary Commission of Enquirey (CPI) on violence committed against Brazilian women was featured in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on November 29. The report, based on documents furnished by police stations in 20 states, provided profiles of the various types of violence practiced against women, of the victims, and of the aggressors. The statistics, however, reflect only a small part of this profound social problem, as the majority of women do not denounce the acts of aggression committed against them. There are only 125 police stations in the whole country designed to deal with violent actions against women.

From January 1991 to August 1992, 205,000 acts of violence against women were reported-an average of 337 each day. The majority of these acts were bodily injuries, due to, said the report, "the refusal of the woman to satisfy the male's desires." In the state of Santa Catarina, these beatings accounted for 75.5% of all cases of violence registered; in Rio Grande do Norte, 66.1% were beatings, and in Acre, 60%.

Homicide accounted for 0.5% of all cases reported. However, murder was the leader in cases of violence in three states-Alagoas (24.8%), Pernambuco (13.2%), and Espirito Santo (11.1%) The number of rape cases in these states was also higher than the national rate-1.8% of all cases reported.

The CPI document states that only a small minority of women have the courage to denounce rape-not only because of the stigma a rape victim carries, but also because "50% of all rape cases originate within the victim's own family."

Victims of violence are mainly housewives (20.7%), followed by domestic servants (10%) and employees in business and industry (6.3%). The main aggressors are commercial or industrial workers (9%) and unemployed men.

Violence is highest amongst the poor: 35.5% of the victims receive less than 2 minimum salaries (approximately US$100) per month. 30.9% of the aggressors are from this same income bracket. 53.8% of the victims are illiterate.

39.3% of the victims are between the ages of 18 and 40. 8.3% are under 14, and 17% of the aggressors are also in this age bracket. Married women suffer the highest number of aggressions (20.3%), followed by mistresses (19.95%) and single women (14.2%).

The report showed that most acts of violence against women occur during the middle of the week. The number falls during the

weekend due to the fact that the potential aggressor is likely to be out of the house during that time, meeting with friends or colleagues in neighborhood bars.

One of the CPI's recommendations is that rape be re-classified as a "crime against the person." The 1940 Penal Code lists rape as a "crime against customs", which means that rape is more of a crime against society than it is against women.

- Pernambuco study on women homicide victims is released.

In the last eleven months, 415 women were murdered in the northeastern state of Pernambuco. The majority of women were black (307), and most were victims of "crimes of passion."

According to Wilma Lessa, coordinator of the Woman-Life Collective Movement, which conducted the study, 70% of the homicides were carried out by husbands, boyfriends, or lovers. "The motivations for the crimes are jealousy, reconciliation, and separation. In the interior of the state, it is common for the aggressors to use the 'defense of honor' in cases of adultery or suspicion of betrayal as justifications for the crimes." For Maria Segunda Gomes, police officer in the Homicide Department in Recife, impunity has contributed to the increase in criminality in the state. "The police have difficulty in many cases trying to get the facts because of a lack of witnesses. A majority of the cases occur inside the home." The fact that the law does not accept relatives of the victim as witnesses also makes the investigations difficult, she said.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH

- Rio de Janeiro youths shot in the hand by drug trafficker.

18 Rio de Janeiro youths were "punished" for their practicing assaults and robberies on Borel Hill, in the northern zone neighborhood of Tijuca on November 26. A drug trafficker and member of the Red Command gang known as "Bill" meted out the punishment by shooting the youths in their hands.

The "Folha de Sao Paulo" reported on November 27 that 12 persons in Tijuca were obliged to go to Borel Hill by a hooded man, who said, "the man wants to talk with you." The victims were taken to "Bill's " hide-out on the hill. According to the youth, the drug trafficker said he wanted to "clean up the area", and that he was "tired" of seeing other assailants hiding out on Borel. "Bill" then ordered the 12 to stretch out their arms, and began beating their hands with the butt of his revolver, and shooting. This scene was repeated with an additional six victims.

Police and Borel residents said the incident was part of the "parallel justice" strategy "Bill" uses to keep other assailants

out of the area, in order to keep the police out and the area "clean" for drug trafficking. According to police, the cocaine traffic in Borel, the home of 45,000 people, yields a weekly income of US$30 thousand for the drug traffickers.

The president of the Borel Hill Residents Association, Carlos da Silva Rozario,said that the "favela community approved" the punishment imposed by the drug traffickers. "These days, we leave our homes without knowing if we'll return because of all the crime. Now we'll be able to return home in peace". Rozario also said that the traffickers supply the poorest residents of Borel with bread and milk.

- Former street children's movement leader found guilty.

Volmer do Nascimento, former coordinator of the National Street Children's Movement (MNMMR) was found guilty of calumny and defamation of character against judges Rubens Madeiros and Mario dos Santos. Judge Cirley Biondi of the 21st Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro condemned Nascimento to 7 years and 4 months in prison, to be served in a "semi-open regime", and a fine of 64 minimum salaries. The MNMMR will appeal the verdict.

Nascimento had accused judges Medeiros and Santos of belonging to extermination groups which murder children in the Baixada Fluminense, on the periphery of Rio. The two judges accused Nascimento of defamation of character.

This is Nascimento's second condemnation by the courts this year. Three months ago, he was found guilty of fabricating his own kidnaping.

CHURCHES

- Catholic bishops prepare pamphlet on 1993 government referendum.

The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) is preparing an educational pamphlet on the April 21 referendum, when voters will choose their system of government. The pamphlet, which will be published by the end of the year, will explain the different systems of government-parliamentary, presidential, and monarchy.

CNBB president, Dom Luciano Mendes de Almeida, told the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on November 27 that the objective of the bishops' conference is to avoid the "manipulation" of the people, who are still unaware of the meaning of the referendum. Saying that "neither the parliamentary nor presidential form of government is perfect", Mendes de Almeida stressed the importance of having "greater participation of the population, greater control by society over its leaders, more transparency of governmental activity, and greater co-responsibility between the powers of government."

HEALTH

- AIDS education program to begin in schools.

On the eve of the international day of the fight against AIDS, December 1, the "Folha de Sao Paulo" reported that AIDS will enter the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools in 1993. The federal Ministry of Health will distribute to public and private schools illustrated pamphlets containing information about the disease. The material will be designed for three age brackets, 5 to 9 years, 10 to 14, and 15 to 19. The costs for distributing the 39 million pamphlets will be shared between the ministries of Health and Education.

Lair Guerra de Macedo, director of the AIDS division of the Ministry of Health, believes that "education is the only weapon we have at the moment to minimize the effects of this epidemic." Teachers throughout the country will receive videotapes on AIDS and will also be trained by the Health Ministry.

The content of the pamphlets will include the relation between human beings and nature, the imbalance between the two, diseases, sex, and AIDS.

According to Emilio Ribas Hospital in Sao Paulo, one of Brazil's leading hospitals in the treatment of persons with AIDS, drug use is the major cause of AIDS in adolescents. 76.4% of adolescents with AIDS were infected due to drug use. 8% were infected from heterosexual relations, and 5.7% from homosexual relations.

Statistics released on November 30 by the Health Ministry in Brasilia show that as of October 31, 31,949 cases of AIDS have been reported in Brazil since 1980. Approximately 60% of those with the disease have died. Sao Paulo is the state reporting the most cases-18,737. Rio de Janeiro is in second place, with 5140 cases.

Unofficial projections estimate between 700 thousand and 900 thousand people are carriers of HIV in Brazil.

- Survey shows adolescent girls at greater risk in contracting

AIDS.

A survey by the firm Standard, Ogilvy and Mather, and reported in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on November 30, shows that adolescent girls run a higher risk of being infected by the AIDS virus than boys. 34% of the girls surveyed said that they do not take measures against the disease. 20% of the boys do not take precautionary measures.

According to Vera Paiva, of the Center for Studies and the Prevention of AIDS of the University of Sao Paulo, this situation is caused by the macho behavior of the men, which is the principal obstacle in not using condoms. "The woman, by our culture, has to be passive in sexual relations", she said.

The survey, which interviewed 450 persons between the ages of 14 and 23, pointed out that adolescent girls who do take precautions and propose the use of condoms run the risk of being called promiscuous. Those adolescents who do use condoms do so more to prevent pregnancy than to prevent AIDS.

For 65% of the youth surveyed, the condom is dispensed with, and substituted by "myths" of fidelity, eternal love, virginity, family status, and social class. "The general belief is that a beautiful, rich, clean person who goes to the same high school and is present in the same social circles cannot have AIDS", said Rosangela Bolze of Standard, Ogilvy and Mather.

The survey also demonstrates that youth are not well-informed about the disease. 60 % of those interviewed said that they were "more or less" informed about AIDS, and another 19% said they were poorly informed. Bolze said this was due to the lack of informational campaigns and education about AIDS.

- Brazilian mothers breastfeed less.

Brazilian mothers breastfeed less than mothers in any other country in the world, UNICEF health coordinator Oscar Galindo said in Recife on November 26. According to Galindo, the problem is most severe in regions where poverty and hunger is highest. In northeast Brazil, a child is breastfed until the 41st day of life, on the average. In the south, the average is 86 days. Galindo told the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on November 27 that "this time span is very short. Children should be breastfed up until age two."

However, it appears that educational campaigns promoting breastfeeding do have an effect. UNICEF observed that the average number of days Recife mothers breastfed went from 81 in 1986, to 128 in 1989.

LAND ISSUES

- Land movement calls for passage of agrarian reform legislation.

The Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST) launched a campaign for approval of legislation to enact agrarian reform. The National Office of MST released the following message:

"The 1988 Brazilian Constitution is clear in determining that agrarian reform be executed, by expropriating unproductive property and land that has no social use. But the 'right', the conservative sector and the Collor government, used the excuse that complementary legislation was needed to execute agrarian reform.

"Progressive legislators introduced a proposal for a complementary law, which was finally approved in August, 1992, by the House of Deputies. It was recently approved in the Senate, which added some amendments which improved the measure. The House of Deputies only needs to approve these new amendments in order for the law to be sent to the President and be sanctioned.

"Therefore, we are making this campaign in order that the president of the House of Deputies, Ibsen Pinheiro, and the leader of the government in the House, Roberto Freire, take the initiative and put the measure before the House for a vote. We ask that messages demanding the immediate appropriation of the Senate amendments be sent to Deputado Ibsen Pinheiro, Presidencia da Camara dos Deputados, 70160, Brasilia, DF, and Roberto Freire, Gabinete 631, Camara dos Deputados, 70160, Brasilia, DF."

Since 1978, MST has pressured government and called attention for the need for agrarian reform in Brazil. A recent study by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the federal Ministry of Agriculture showed that the partial agrarian reform in existence has generated an average monthly income of 3.7 minimum salaries per month for each farm family settled on previously unoccupied land. The study says that "it would be difficult for these farmers to obtain such an income if they were employed in the city or country."

- Campaign to free farmworker imprisoned since July.

The Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST) has called for the release of farmworker Ivanete Tonin. She has been illegally imprisoned in Rio Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul, since July 31.

MST lawyers have made a habeas corpus petition before the court in Rio Brilhante. But Judge Joao Rosa de Lima denied the petition, and claimed that the release of Ivanete Tonin would represent a danger to the public order. The 81-day period for a conclusion of a police investigation has already passed and until now no accusations against Tonin have been heard.

Arrest warrants for farmworker leaders Valentin Teles, Marcio Bissoli, Daniel Rocha and Jose Batista are still in effect. MST has called on letters to be sent to the judge, asking that the warrants and the imprisonment of Ivanete Tonin be revoked. The address is Milton Malulei, Tribunal de Justica do Mato Grosso do Sul, Parque dos Poderes, Bloco 13, Campo Grande, MS, Telex (67) 2207.

POPULAR MOVEMENTS

- Video association assists popular movements, church groups.

In a country where at least 25% of the population is illiterate, and where 80 million people have access to television, the power of images is great. Since 1984, the Brazilian Association of Popular Video (ABVP) has trained grassroots groups, union members, and church groups in the use of video. "It is amazing that, even with the popularity of video cassettes, there are still many popular movement leaders who do not know how to use a tape", said Veleria Guimaraes, coordinator of ABVP. Her group offers courses and workshops in video, which are given to leaders who then share what they have learned in their groups.

The Association has a library in Sao Paulo of 300 videos on such themes as human rights, blacks, indigenous peoples, education, ecology, urban life, and religion and society.

The Association is conducting a petition campaign in support of a law of democratic information, a bill proposed in Congress by Federal Deputy Zaire Rezende. The measure has various aspects which interest popular movements, such as: the release of airwaves for non-profit community radio and TV stations; the end of TV and radio monopolies; the implantation of a public TV system; and the right to air time for popular and social movements at the state and national level.

The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited.