Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Eighty-eighth session

Summary record of the 2075th meeting

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Thursday, 23 May 2024, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Ms. Peláez Narváez

Contents

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention (continued)

Combined eighth and ninth periodic reports of Brazil

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m.

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention (continued)

Combined eighth and ninth periodic reports of Brazil (CEDAW/C/BRA/8-9; CEDAW/C/BRA/QPR/8-9)

At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of Brazil joined the meeting.

A representative of Brazil, introducing her country’s eighth and ninth periodic reports (CEDAW/C/BRA/8-9), said that a Ministry for Women had been established for the first time in Brazil in January 2023. It was tasked with coordinating and implementing policies for women at the national, state and municipal levels, working jointly with the legislative and judicial branches of government. The Ministry of Racial Equality and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, both newly established, together with the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, were also helping the Government to strengthen its focus on the rights of disadvantaged and excluded groups in society.

The annual national budget allocated to the then National Secretariat of Women’s Policies had been significantly cut by the previous Government to just 23 million reais (R$) for 2023, but had been increased to R$ 149 million through the joint efforts of the legislative and executive branches, and had been further raised to R$ 480 million for 2024. In total, the 2023 fiscal year had seen R$ 216 billion of direct and indirect expenditure benefiting women.

In order to tackle all forms of gender-based violence, the Women Living without Violence (Mulher Viver sem Violência) Programme had been resumed. It was intended to provide specialized care for women in the areas of health, justice, public security and social assistance and to promote their financial empowerment. Its two main priorities were to restore the quality of the free Call 180 hotline, which provided women with information and guidance on gender-based violence and the means of filing complaints, and to implement the House of Brazilian Women (Casa da Mulher Brasileira) initiative, under which 15 units, each offering 10 different services in a single space, had been opened to implement the Maria da Penha Law on domestic and family violence. The existing units had assisted nearly 200,000 women in 2023, and 40 more such units were planned. In smaller municipalities, 306 reference centres for women had been opened, based on a similar model.

The Government had specifically tackled violence against Indigenous women by setting up a House of Indigenous Women (Casa da Mulher Indígena) facility in Dourados, an Indigenous reserve where the mortality rates for Indigenous women and adolescents were the highest in the country. The facility had care protocols and referral systems designed specifically for Indigenous women. More such facilities would be set up in all six of the country’s biomes. The Government had also instituted the National Pact for the Prevention of Femicide, which, with a budget of R$ 2.5 billion, set out 73 measures, including specific action for women in rural areas and forest and water regions.

In the area of public security, particular emphasis had been placed on protecting the lives of women. In 2023, 10 per cent of the national public security fund had been allocated to tackling violence against women, which was double the 5 per cent required by law. In addition, 268 vehicles for the provision of special assistance to women had been distributed to some 519 specialized police stations for women. A total of R$ 14 million had been earmarked for the acquisition of electronic tags for monitoring aggressors.

The Unified Social Assistance System provided support throughout the country to women at risk of social vulnerability or those who had had their rights violated; 60 per cent of referrals to that system in 2023 had been women in situations of domestic violence. Shelters were present in 23 states and each year provided refuge for some 8,000 women forced to leave their homes due to violence.

A new law adopted in 2023 provided for the payment of a rental subsidy to women who were at social and economic risk and had been forced to leave their homes to escape violence. Reparations in the form of a monthly benefit were also paid to orphans whose mothers had been victims of femicide. In 2023, more than 10 laws designed to protect women’s lives had been adopted by the National Congress.

During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the maternal mortality rate had risen by 94 per cent, with black and Indigenous women, rural women and women living in the north and north-east of the country being disproportionately affected. In response, the Federal Government had been working to ensure women’s rights to reproductive health and humane treatment during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period, and the right of children to a safe birth, growth and development. It was also spearheading a pact to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality, and planned to build 60 maternity wards and 30 normal delivery centres.

In Brazil, abortion was possible in the cases of rape, risk to the woman’s life or foetal anencephaly. The main barriers were unavailability of information about the right to abortion in those cases and how to access it, a lack of referral services and trained professionals, unnecessary requirements imposed by health professionals and conscientious objection by some professionals.In January 2023, in order to address those barriers, the Government had announced that the country would withdraw from the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family; repeal Ordinance No. 2.561/2020, which required health professionals to inform the police of legal abortion procedures they had performed; and revise reproductive health norms, ordinances and guidelines to comply with current legislation, based on the promotion of human rights and scientific guidelines. Access to contraception had been expanded and the number of procedures to insert intrauterine devices performed in public health facilities had increased by 176 per cent between 2021 and 2023.

The Government had been investing in the skills of health professionals through the More Doctors (Mais Médicos) Programme, which helped to increase the number of professionals in regions with insufficient public health services, and was of particular importance for the health of Indigenous populations. The Government had also been raising awareness and encouraging the provision of reproductive and family planning services in primary health care.

Actions to prevent, diagnose, vaccinate against and treat sexually transmitted infections had increased again after cutbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, initiatives such as the National Week for the Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy and the Health at School (Saúde na Escola) Programme, which prioritized sexual and reproductive health, had focused on adolescents. More than 100,000 schools and 25 million students had been reached, including in Indigenous, Quilombola and rural areas. Molecular testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer screening had been incorporated into the public health system, with R$ 18 million being invested in 2023. Vaccination against HPV was now provided free of charge to girls and boys.

The Menstrual Dignity (Dignidade Menstrual) Programme had been set up in 2023 to comply with Act No. 14.214 of 2021, providing free sanitary products to socially vulnerable women and girls, including prison inmates. More than 1.3 million persons had benefited from the programme in the first quarter of 2024. The tax on basic menstrual products had been cut by 60 per cent.

In 2023, the Brazilian State had taken steps to reduce the gender wage gap by adopting a law on equal pay and remuneration for women and men. Under the new law, companies with more than 100 employees had to publish a transparency report that included data on pay and were liable to be fined if they did not meet the new requirements. The first national pay transparency report, with data on 50,000 companies, showed a gender wage gap of 19.4 per cent. Some 300 companies had taken legal action claiming that the new law was unconstitutional, and had been authorized not to disclose such data.

A national care policy had been developed to help reduce women’s workload. The Government had established wage guarantees and economic empowerment as priorities for women in rural areas and forest and water regions. Under the Rural Women’s Productive Backyards (Quintais Produtivos das Mulheres Rurais) Programme, R$ 20 million had been invested to help 2,000 women use their backyards for animal husbandry and food production. In November 2023, the Government had ruled that women should account for at least 50 per cent of participants in the Food Acquisition Programme, which benefited family farming. The National Programme to Strengthen Family Farming had a specific credit line for rural women earning less than R$ 100,000 annually and the current Government had tripled the money transferred under the programme for the 2023–2024 harvest compared with the previous year.

Guidelines had been issued to improve the access of women and girls to education at all levels, as well as related retention and success rates, and to help them enter the labour market. More than R$ 9 billion would be allocated to new schools, day-care centres, nurseries and school transport in the first stage of a new basic education programme, and the National School Meals Programme had received a 39 per cent increase in funding following a six-year budget freeze. Under a new programme created to combat educational dropout among low‑income groups, financial incentives worth R$ 7 billion would benefit 2.5 million students. The measures taken in the field of education would help ease the care burden on women, giving them more free time for work or study. A total of R$ 28 million had been invested in actions to support black women entrepreneurs and the mothers of victims of racial violence. Scholarships for doctoral and postdoctoral studies were also being provided for black, Indigenous, Quilombola and Roma women. The Government was investing R$ 100 million in projects to promote the training and retention of girls and women in the science, engineering and computing fields. After a working group had identified misogyny as a recurring cause of violence in schools, the Government was establishing a national strategy to combat extreme violence in schools, in which priority would be given to tackling violence against women.

Following a period of worsening food security between 2017 and 2022, the situation was now improving, and Brazil was returning to levels previously seen more than a decade earlier, when 74 per cent of the population had had access to three meals a day. The Family Allowance (Bolsa Família) Programme benefited 21 million households, 86 per cent of them with female heads; families with pregnant women and children stood to receive additional benefits. The My House, My Life (Minha Casa, Minha Vida) Programme was resumed in 2023, with priority given to providing housing to families with female heads; 90 per cent of the 8 million allocated housing units had been registered in women’s names.

In order to help improve rural women’s access to civil, labour and legal documentation, 13 mobile missions had visited 10 Brazilian states in the last quarter of 2023, issuing paperwork to nearly 15,000 people, most of them women.

Efforts by the Government to ease the issue of debt had included the Develop Brazil (Desenrola Brasil) Programme, which had helped nearly 11 million individuals, 55 per cent of them women, to renegotiate their debts or have them written off.

A national plan to combat political violence against women was being drawn up to expand the concept of political violence beyond the scope of the current legislation, which only covered women in political office. The new plan would also apply to candidates, social leaders and other women in positions of influence, such as journalists, and would take into account the intersectional impact of violence on black women, women in rural areas and forest and water regions, lesbians, transgender women and women with disabilities. In order to tackle gender stereotypes, the Ministry for Women had recently launched the Brazil without Misogyny (Brasil sem Misoginia) initiative, bringing together 140 organizations from the public and private sectors with the commitment to eradicate violence and discrimination against women.

The Government was aware of the challenges it faced and stood ready to address them in order to safeguard the rights of all women.

Articles 1–6

Ms. Bonifaz Alfonzo said she hoped that the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, which had only recently begun to produce disaggregated data for Indigenous and Afrodescendent women, would now pay increasing attention to those population categories.

She wished to know why the State party had not produced a comprehensive law on violence against women, covering all forms of violence and reflecting the provisions of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women. She would like to know whether, in order to promote the implementation of existing laws, training was provided to members of the judiciary on the gender perspective, and whether standardized protocols and measures had been established for the work of the public prosecutor’s office.

She wondered whether access to justice was guaranteed for women living in rural areas or those in vulnerable situations, for example Indigenous women and women with disabilities; what steps had been taken to ensure access to justice for refugee women; and whether access to interpretation services had been improved. Lastly, she wished to know whether the State party had specific regulations ensuring prior and informed consultation on infrastructure and natural-resource exploitation projects, particularly in Indigenous areas.

A representative of Brazil said that the Government had not begun consultations on a comprehensive law on violence against women, but that such a process needed to be undertaken. Training on the gender perspective was provided in the justice system, and the National Council of Justice was implementing a related protocol.

Some difficulties had been encountered in the implementation of the Maria da Penha Law, and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry for Women were discussing how its coverage could be extended to women in rural areas. There were plans for a draft law to provide rural women with a legal guarantee of access to justice. Since sparsely populated areas often lacked the necessary services, and it was not always possible for women in those areas to travel long distances, for example in order to lodge a complaint, the possibility of bringing those services closer to rural communities was being considered. Discussions on climate issues involving the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, the Ministry of Racial Equality and the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and the Fight against Hunger were also under way, but further progress needed to be made.

A representative of Brazil said that migrant women had access to the justice system. The country’s policy on assisting migrant women was now more effective than it had been in the past. It gave priority to the asylum applications of women from countries with high levels of gender-based violence or where female genital mutilation was practised and accelerated the asylum process for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex women coming from countries that criminalized their existence or activities. Shelters for Venezuelan migrant women and their children were provided on the border with Venezuela. Such migrants were also helped to move closer to employment opportunities further inside Brazil. The country had been carrying out highly successful family reunification procedures within its justice system.

A representative of Brazil said that considerable challenges, including bureaucratic procedures and the size of the country, remained to be overcome in order to guarantee access to justice to women with disabilities and women living in rural areas. The independence of the judiciary meant that judges were able to exercise judicial discretion with respect to the implementation of recommendations. There was therefore no guarantee that federal standards would be implemented at the municipal level. Women’s organizations had brought petitions to the Federal Government, but further consensus-building work was necessary.

The Chair said that she would like the delegation to comment on the status of steps taken to ensure that the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics produced disaggregated data.

A representative of Brazil said that the disaggregation of data relating to the Indigenous and Quilombola communities had begun only recently. The process needed to be maintained on a permanent basis in order to allow the compilation of a set of indicators that could be used to assess policies targeting those groups.

A representative of Brazil said that data had been gathered on the country’s Indigenous populations for the first time in 2010. The most recent population census had sought to build a broader picture of the communities in question.

Ms. Bonifaz Alfonzo said that she wished to clarify that the issue of disaggregated data did not affect only Indigenous women. It had also been impossible to view data relating specifically to Afrodescendent women and to assess how public policies were affecting them, although that had begun to change in 2022.

Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that she would like the delegation to clarify whether the Ministry for Women established in 2023 had Cabinet status and possessed the necessary architecture, including human, technical and financial resources and regulatory or oversight authority, to effectively coordinate a whole-of-government approach in the State party in both the public and private sectors. It would be interesting to learn about any significant gender‑related achievements made since the establishment of the Ministry.

She wondered what policy measures, governance tools and instruments the Ministry for Women had at its disposal to perform its coordination and oversight functions with a view to effectively standardizing service delivery and driving accountability in efforts to dismantle institutional and systemic barriers to gender mainstreaming; whether there was a national gender policy with strategic priorities and an implementation plan with measurable indicators and targets to track progress; and whether there was a monitoring and impact assessment mechanism to facilitate periodic reviews. If not, it would be helpful to know of any ongoing or planned steps to develop a national gender policy linked with the National Development Plan and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, with clear gender indicators and timelines.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of the national budget was currently allocated to the Ministry for Women and whether gender-responsive budgeting had been instituted in the national budget or within line ministries. She would like to hear details of budget allocations to the Ministry for Women and gender desks of ministries, departments and agencies over the past three years. She also wondered whether the State party had considered leveraging private sector financing through affirmative procurement policies to increase the gender budget and inclusive economic governance.

She would like the delegation to describe any administrative orders, regulatory provisions, protocols or guidelines issued to address systemic and structural discrimination of women in critical sectors prioritized under the National Development Plan, such as infrastructure, energy, financial services, digital technology and tourism.

It would be helpful to receive data disaggregated by sex on the impact assessment of the Brazilian Multi-Year Plan for the 2020–2023 period; to know how the Ministry for Women was tracking the gender performance, reach and effectiveness of Programme 5034 on protecting life, strengthening the family and promoting and defending human rights; and to receive an update on the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, which had been launched in 2020.

She would like the delegation to elaborate on the working relationship between the Ministry for Women, other line ministries and arms of government and the national human rights institution. What steps were being taken to address concerns relating to gender equality, especially with regard to technological advancements including artificial intelligence and robotics, and to provide appropriate protocols, guidelines and measures to prevent the emergence of new types of discrimination against women and their exclusion from trade, tourism and economic distribution?

Ms. Tisheva said that she would like the delegation to share its assessment of the impact on gender equality to date in cases in which temporary special measures, including affirmative action, had been adopted. It would be helpful to receive information on the temporary special measures that had been adopted; on ones that the State party intended to adopt, for example laws, policies and programmes; and on plans for the development, implementation and monitoring of such measures in order to achieve substantive equality between women and men, particularly in terms of women’s participation in political life and decision-making, employment and education and their access to economic decision-making positions and economic support.

She would like to know in which specific sectors the Government had intervened, or intended to intervene, and whether that had been in the form of temporary special measures or other measures. She wondered which particular categories of women had been or would be targeted in order to address the situation of the most vulnerable groups and whether the Government planned to adopt a special intersectional quota focused on Afrodescendent women in certain sectors such as employment and political decision-making.

A representative of Brazil said that the Ministry for Women currently had 230 staff members. Under the current Administration, some 20 ministries were drawing up specific agendas for women. More than half of programmes drawn up across all ministries under the current Multi-Year Plan had specific objectives for women in areas including economic empowerment, health, institutional decision-making and gender equality. The Ministry for Women wished to see all other government ministries structured in a gender-inclusive manner.

The influence of the Ministry for Women was limited in that, under the Constitution, it was not permitted to interfere in the governance of the private sector or the legislative, executive and judicial branches and at the state and municipal levels. It therefore had to negotiate, build partnerships and technical cooperation and coordinate its activities with them. Although the Ministry was represented in all of the country’s states, it did not enjoy the same depth of coverage as other government ministries. Its current goal was to open between 1,500 and 2,000 municipal offices for women’s policies. Despite the recent increase in the Ministry’s budget, more resources were needed to strengthen and expand policies for women and women’s access to justice, including at the state and municipal levels. The fact that other ministries had cross-cutting policies and programmes for women, for example, the Family Allowance and Women Living Without Violence programmes, helped to boost overall government expenditure targeting women. The Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management had been helping with the monitoring of such programmes.

Among the quotas put in place to benefit women, a 2023 decision provided that 8 per cent of vacancies in outsourced services must be filled by women and a law stated that 5 per cent of vacancies in the public sector must be filled by women victims of violence. A 30 per cent quota had been established for black people in positions of the federal administration, and an agreement had been reached between the Ministry of Racial Equality and the Central Bank of Brazil to employ more black women at the Bank. Other quotas had been introduced to cover university admissions, employment and the public sector. Further work was needed to strengthen the quota system; in particular, it was proving challenging to increase female participation in the area of political representation. Almost one fifth of municipalities had no female councillors, and 2,000 of the country’s towns and cities had only one female councillor. Less than one fifth of members of the National Congress were women, and efforts to increase their numbers had borne little fruit. Political parties had been threatened with fines for failing to meet quota requirements, but were often granted an amnesty. Seats needed to be set aside for women in the National Congress. Current levels of gender-based political violence gave rise to concerns over the number of female candidates that would choose to stand for election in 2024, despite government efforts across the country to encourage them to do so.

A representative of Brazil said that the methodology used for the Multi-Year Plan had recently changed. It included more than 80 programmes that set key national indicators and targets involving cross-cutting initiatives relating to gender, race and Indigenous issues. Monitoring took place to ensure that cross-sectoral and traditional ministries alike implemented specific policies for the groups in question.

In the area of affirmative action, the Black Youth Alive Plan had been set up to tackle lethal violence, which disproportionately affected black men and women. Partnerships had also been set up with companies to promote the employment of black candidates. Attempts were being made to achieve the passage of a law on civil service quotas through the National Congress. The Committee’s recommendations on how further progress could be made in the areas in question would be welcomed.

Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that she wished to know the extent to which the Ministry for Women had the authority to establish standards aligned with the Convention and to work with others, for example in the private sector, to ensure compliance with those standards, which might involve implementing measures such as affirmative action, incentives and sanctions.

Ms. Tisheva said that she would like to know whether the State party monitored and assessed the effectiveness of the temporary special measures it had put in place to combat gender inequalities, including in areas where such inequalities intersected with racial inequalities; what actions had been taken in the labour market to counter inequalities affecting women, including women of African descent; and whether the Government might consider introducing permanent measures to help combat violence against women. She invited the delegation to reflect on the nature of the temporary special measures within the meaning of article 4 of the Convention and the possibilities they provided. Could further steps be taken to implement quotas in the electoral field, perhaps by introducing an intersectional component and imposing sanctions when necessary, in order to make them more effective?

Ms. Ameline said that she was surprised at the small size of the budget of the Ministry for Women, given the challenges it faced in its work. She wondered whether there was a sufficient link between investment in sustainable development and the advancement of the status of women and whether the Sustainable Development Goals were sufficiently integrated into the Ministry’s work.

The Chair said that she wished to know whether there was any coordination between the cross-sectoral ministries to ensure that the policies they promoted were mainstreamed in the main ministries. She also wondered whether Brazil had an official mechanism for its states to evaluate the policy of the Ministry for Women or other cross-sectoral ministries. Lastly, she would like to know what exactly happened when quotas were not observed. How was that monitored, and were sanctions imposed or not?

A representative of Brazil said that, ever since its establishment and despite its lack of financial resources, the Ministry for Women had the authority to establish standards for and negotiate with other ministries, the private sector and the National Congress. It had negotiated on equal pay legislation and other priority policies for women that would be carried out by other ministries; cross-cutting government policies enabled close collaboration between the Ministry for Women and other ministries.

The Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management monitored the implementation of all government policies, and a committee for the coordination and monitoring of the National Plan of Policies for Women, within the Ministry for Women, monitored women’s policy initiatives and the resources allocated to them. The Ministry for Women often collaborated with the Ministry of Racial Equality and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, as policy had to be inclusive of all women, including black, Indigenous, transgender and lesbian women. The initiatives currently being implemented would be assessed for their impact in the future.

Measures had been adopted under the National Employment System for all women, with priority given to women in situations of violence, and the Ministry for Women and the Ministry of Labour and Employment had developed a strategy for the inclusion of women within the labour market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brazil had made strides in its use of technology, but continued to work to ensure that all women had Internet access so as to benefit from that technology.

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals was a priority for the President. All ministries were committed to initiatives to ensure equal economic development and social programmes for wealth redistribution taking account of gender, racial and wealth inequalities. Brazil would give priority to those issues during its presidency of the Group of 20 throughout 2024.

A representative of Brazil said that government priorities under the Multi-Year Plan included issues relating to gender, racial equality and Indigenous Peoples. A directorate within the Ministry of Racial Equality evaluated and monitored policies for racial equality, and a racial equality hub had been launched to improve the availability of official data on the black population, particularly black women. A digital platform was being developed to compile official legal documents on combating racism and promoting racial equality.

Quotas for vulnerable populations were renewed following impact assessments. An affirmative action initiative for entry into diplomatic careers offered scholarships to black persons and members of minority communities, including women. Scholarships were temporarily available through various programmes developed in partnership with the Ministry for Women, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Those ministries also ran leadership programmes to promote the participation of women, including black women, in decision-making. The Black Youth Alive Plan included a series of initiatives aimed at black women.

Ms. de Silva de Alwis said that she wished to know how the State party was harnessing the core principles of the Maria da Penha Law – namely the prevention of violence, education and the role of men and boys – to protect Maria da Penha and other women human rights defenders, political leaders and journalists from cyberattacks, online abuse and disinformation campaigns. She wondered how the State party had responded to the order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to create and implement a centralized national system to collect data on gender-based violence; how clear land tenure was provided for women; what steps the State party had taken in response to the concluding observations of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which highlighted the severe impact of enforced disappearances on women and children in Brazil; whether Brazil would follow the example of Mexico by introducing a stand-alone law criminalizing online and offline violence against women in politics; and how the State party planned to use policy to address deeply ingrained and structural forms of intersectional stereotypes and new gender stereotypes emerging online and offline.

A representative of Brazil said that the Government was establishing security measures to protect the human rights defender Maria da Penha, but measures for all human rights defenders, including broader legislation on political gender-based violence, were needed. The current witness protection mechanism of the Ministry of Human Rights, which consisted of removing female human rights defenders under threat from their place of residence, was a victory for the aggressors who wished to cast those women out; a working group to find alternative protection measures, with the participation of women, had been established. Further work was needed to address the issue, which had become even more pressing since the murder of human rights defender Mãe Bernadete in Bahia in 2023.

The demarcation of Indigenous lands was a priority, but, although the President had vetoed legislation on the “temporal framework” doctrine, which stipulated that only those territories occupied by Indigenous Peoples on the date of enactment of the Brazilian Constitution could be demarcated, it had been passed by the National Congress. The Ministry of Justice provided permanent support and a rapid response system to address the disappearance of women and children; the time frame for reporting disappearances had been shortened to improve the efficiency of search processes.

Following discussions with the Ministry of Health, a new care policy for women would address maternity support and provide for the investigation of obstetric violence, which had not yet been addressed as a crime or rights violation. The Ministry for Women would seek to learn from the cybercrime policy of Mexico, as online violence affected many women in Brazil, including those in Government. A bill on disinformation proposed by the Government had not advanced in Congress. Although the Federal Supreme Court had determined that criminal offences could be committed online, as well as in person, no law yet regulated online offences; the Government would examine proposed legislation of the European Union to find ways to regulate the issue. Online stereotypes had been discussed with media outlets and social media platforms under the Brazil Without Misogyny initiative. However, current legislation was misunderstood by those providers, which often only prohibited photographs of women breastfeeding while allowing other content.

A representative of Brazil said that legislative amendments, approved in 2018 and enacted in 2023, had allowed for interstate cases of online misogyny to be brought to the federal level. As a result, the Federal Police had investigated online misogynistic violence against female politicians and would be able to provide greater online protection to women.

Ms. de Silva de Alwis said that it was heartening that the State party was considering introducing legislation on obstetric violence, as efforts to tackle it had first emerged as a grassroots movement in Latin America. She would welcome further information on the intergenerational link between the redistribution of wealth and violence prevention.

The Chair said that, as it was often difficult to pass legislative reform in the State party, she wished to know what advances had been made in public policy, which was not subject to parliamentary approval. She also wished to know how the State party had improved protection for vulnerable groups of women and reduced rates of femicide and serious violence against women.

A representative of Brazil said that legislation on combating violence against women had been approved in the National Congress. The Governor of Ceará aimed to increase the number of shelters for women in that State from 4 to 15, and the State of Bahia was combating misogyny and hate speech through campaigns in schools. Policy had been introduced to strengthen the capacity of states and municipalities to find their own solutions to address violence against women; as a result, several states had introduced their own laws for the protection of women.

The failure to treat women as rights holders had made it harder to create the conditions needed to allow women to escape situations of violence. As women often moved from one area of Brazil to another to escape violence, shelters were needed across the country. The National Pact for the Prevention of Femicide provided for educational campaigns in schools and initiatives such as the expanded use of electronic ankle tags, which were imposed based on assessments by the Federal Prosecution Service and the Federal Public Defender Service to ensure that aggressors could not approach women at risk. Policies to enable the Maria da Penha Patrol to monitor emergency restraining orders had been strengthened. Such policy measures were not legislative but were rolled out in states and municipalities.

Ms. de Silva de Alwis, speaking on behalf of Ms. Leinarte, said that she wished to know how the State party’s authorities protected Brazilian women who migrated to other countries, given that they were vulnerable to trafficking, and whether there were plans to collect comprehensive data on sex and labour trafficking cases to allow the Government to effectively combat trafficking. She wished to clarify whether the 2016 anti-trafficking law provided for the criminalization of child sex trafficking without elements of force, fraud or coercion. She wondered what barriers were preventing court procedures from being shortened to reduce impunity for traffickers, how the State party ensured sufficient expertise and resources to identify, refer and support victims of child trafficking and what protection mechanisms were in place for witnesses of trafficking. What were the root causes of exploitation of prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes, particularly in relation to children and transgender women, in the State party?

A representative of Brazil said that, in the third National Plan to Fight Trafficking in Persons, launched in 2018, actions were envisaged at the federal, state and municipal levels to prosecute trafficking in persons, hold perpetrators accountable, provide care to victims and protect their rights. The plan fostered cooperation between public entities, civil society organizations and international organizations in reducing vulnerability and exposure to trafficking based on the specific social features of different groups, provided for training for individuals and organizations working to tackle trafficking in persons and envisaged awareness-raising campaigns. Through the National Plan, the multidisciplinary and intersectoral approach to public policy had been strengthened at the federal, state, district and municipal levels. The platform for monitoring progress towards the achievement of target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals indicated that 60 per cent of the Plan’s targets had been fully or partially met. The fourth National Plan would be launched in July 2024 and was being drafted with technical support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and in cooperation with the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was part of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and worked to coordinate public and private entities involved in combating trafficking in persons.

Dedicated units had been established to coordinate efforts to combat trafficking in persons at the state level. Humane treatment centres for migrants were open in several states, providing reception services to Brazilians who had been refused entry to other countries and assistance to those identified as being in situations of violence. The National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons had a network of partners to provide protection and assistance to victims of trafficking, and, in 2023, standard protocols for their treatment had been developed to ensure a coordinated response by institutional actors.

The federal highway police were implementing a policy to map areas where children and adolescents were vulnerable to sexual exploitation and to harness partnerships to build protection networks and increase public awareness of the risks of such exploitation. An application allowed federal highway police officers to identify risk situations and occurrences of sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons using inputs from other officers. The policy was in place throughout the country and had improved the identification of emergency situations and the referral of victims to other support networks.

The Federal Public Defender Service assisted migrants in shelters throughout Brazil, referred cases to competent authorities, imposed judicial protection measures and conducted awareness-raising campaigns on the rights of migrants, which had improved the identification of situations of violence and migrants’ access to justice.

A representative of Brazil said that the National Commission for the Eradication of Slave Labour, within the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, as well as commissions at the state and municipal levels, tackled cases of sexual exploitation. Through cooperation with associations of transgender persons, an interministerial group had been established to develop initiatives to support transgender persons and victims of sexual exploitation. Under the National Strategy for Decent Work, Education and Income Generation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual Persons, a pilot programme to promote decent work and increase school qualifications for transgender persons would be rolled out in five states in late 2024.

A representative of Brazil said that there were over 6,000 support units in the Unified Social Assistance System and more than 58,000 teams in the Unified Health System to assist children, older persons, persons in street situations, female victims of violence and migrants. In 2023, more than 400 victims of trafficking, 40 per cent of whom were women, had benefited from support and monitoring.

Articles 7–9

Ms. Manalo said that she wondered what progress the State party had made in increasing the presence of women, including black, Indigenous and transgender women, in all branches of government. She wished to know how the State party had responded to the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association regarding reported violence against human rights defenders, women journalists and Indigenous Peoples and communities, and what measures had been implemented to address online threats and harassment directed at female political candidates. She wished to know how the State party planned to increase the number of women in diplomatic missions; how many female chief executive officers and board members there were in the private sector and in public trading companies; and whether the State party would consider introducing quotas to increase the number of women in leadership positions in public companies. Details of the number of female judges, legal officers and court auditors and of any planned or existing quotas or strategies to improve female representation in the judiciary would be welcome.

Ms. Akia said that she would welcome recent data, disaggregated by sex and age, on the number of stateless, refugee and migrant women that had benefited from the State party’s progressive legal framework on nationality. She wished to know what measures the State party had taken to ensure that stateless, migrant and refugee women were aware of the application procedures for residency, refugee status and citizenship and did not face any administrative and practical barriers when applying. She wondered what actions the Government had taken to eliminate the discrimination faced by stateless, migrant and refugee women, especially black refugee women, and to ensure their equal access to opportunities to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Did the State party plan to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families?

A representative of Brazil said that a national forum of political parties had secretariats for women which worked to organize, inform and support the Superior Electoral Court in ensuring that political parties had sufficient resources to reach the 30 per cent quota for female candidates in elections. If the quota was not met, fines were applied. The Government was working to combat the ways in which parties circumvented quotas, which included putting forward the names of women who were not genuine candidates. Although the quota for female candidates had led to just a 1.7 per cent increase in the number of women in the National Congress, the number of women campaigning in elections for councillors had increased.

Data on the number of female chief executive officers were not yet available, but the Gender and Race Pro-Equity Programme, currently in its seventh edition, sought to promote the role of women in business. The nearly 200 participating businesses were required to present an equal pay plan for analysis by the Ministry for Women and the Ministry of Labour and Employment. There was a quota for black women in the public sector, but not for women in general.

A representative of Brazil said that Brazil had considered a record 140,000 asylum applications in 2023. Of the migrants and asylum-seekers in Brazil, 67 per cent were male and 29 per cent were female; 45 per cent of refugees were male and 55 per cent were female, although 75 per cent of Venezuelan migrants in Brazil were women. In 2024, all 185 asylum applications from female victims of domestic violence and 124 applications from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons had been granted.

The Federal Public Defender Service supported persons wishing to acquire Brazilian citizenship. Requirements for citizenship included a minimum period of time spent in Brazil and the completion of background checks by the Federal Police and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). Social assistance centres in all states of Brazil and in the municipalities with the highest migrant populations conducted awareness-raising campaigns on how migrants could regularize their situation, apply for asylum or apply for citizenship, and worked with civil society organizations to provide legal assistance to migrants.

A representative of Brazil said that, in 2023, for the first time, the Government’s priorities under the Multi-Year Plan had included the provision of assistance to Brazilians abroad and the mainstreaming of gender and racial equality in foreign policy. The position of a high representative for gender issues had been created to promote gender policy and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. For the first time, women held the positions of Secretary General of Foreign Affairs and ambassador to the United States of America, and, between 2009 and 2021, a woman had been the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations. Women had accounted for 23 per cent of active diplomats as of 2023 and for 20 per cent of all ambassadors as of February 2024. They also headed 11 general consulates and 20 embassies, representing 16 per cent of all heads of missions. Scholarships for public examinations for entry into diplomatic careers were granted to men and women on an equal basis.

Articles 10–14

Ms. Gbedemah said that she would like to know how the State party planned to increase women’s access to vocational training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to guarantee access to basic education and university scholarships for disadvantaged and vulnerable women, including by providing financial incentives for low‑income families. She wondered whether the State party had investigated the underrepresentation of men among university graduates and whether a successor programme to the National Education Plan was envisaged.

She wished to know what measures were in place to tackle child labour. She wondered how the State party ensured that asylum-seekers, refugees and migrant women had access to primary, secondary and tertiary education, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether any relevant data had been collected. She would like to know how the State party addressed financial constraints on women in adult education and the lack of alignment between adult education and the job market; what the root causes were of school dropout, particularly among Afro-Brazilian children in marginalized areas; and how the re-entry and retention of pregnant girls in education was ensured. She wondered whether the State party had investigated the low representation of transgender women in federal universities and reports of bullying affecting transgender persons in schools. She would like to know what data were available on Afrodescendent and Quilombola women in education; what measures the State party was taking to address the link between violence and the institutionalization of girls with disabilities; and what measures were being taken to address the disproportionate number of Afrodescendent women with disabilities who were unable to access educational facilities.

She wondered whether temporary special measures and strategies were in place to train and retain teachers, given the underfunding of schools; how the Government had responded to the Federal Supreme Court ruling that barriers to comprehensive sexual education were unconstitutional; and whether studies had been conducted on violence against women, tolerance, diversity, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, the role of Afrodescendent women throughout history and the effect of the privatization of education on equality.

Ms. Tisheva said that she wondered what measures, including legislative measures, had been planned to counter gender segregation in the labour market and to achieve wage equality between men and women, particularly in female-dominated sectors and what the impact of any such measures already taken had been. What were the main elements and modalities of Act No. 14.611, the Equal Pay Act, what had been its impact thus far and did it encompass both the public and private sectors? She also wondered what were the rights of women workers who had been subject to pay discrimination, how many complaints of pay discrimination had been brought under the Equal Pay Act, whether the compensation allocated in such cases was commensurate to the harm suffered by women owing to intersectional discrimination and what sanctions were imposed on employers.

She would like to know what steps had been taken to combat violence, sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace. She wondered what the main elements were of Act No. 14.457/2022, which had established the Employ + Women (Emprega + Mulheres) Programme and included measures to combat sexual harassment in the workplace; whether the number of complaints of workplace sexual harassment had increased; what compensation was paid by law; and whether companies had been subject to administrative penalties following labour inspections. She wished to know what measures had been taken to increase the access to and full integration within the workplace of women from vulnerable groups, including Afrodescendants, migrants, Indigenous women, young women, women with disabilities and lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women, and to combat the stereotypes and prejudices that they faced.

The meeting rose at 1.10 p.m.