Mulhers..

To give people an idea of the life of colored Brasilian women i thought i'd post this for you guys to see. You hardly ever see a well- off colored person here in Brasil. The mainly white rulers here like to keep it like this. See what you think:

Many women in the third world have to work harder than men to secure their livelihoods, have less control over their income, are subject to violence and are poorly represented in public decision-making.

This inequality traps women in a cycle of poor health, uncontrolled childbirth and low paid, exploitative work, meaning there is often little money for decent housing or to send their children to school.

For example, the plight of many women in Brazil is desperate. Brazil remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, and black people continue to make up most of the country’s poor. Nearly half of black Brazilian women are illiterate and generally they take the lowest paid jobs as domestic servants and cleaners. They are frequently subjected to abuse and violence by men – often men that they know – and usually the perpetrators go unpunished. But violence and discrimination also crosses racial boundaries, touching Brazilian women of every race and background.

Vera is one of those women. Here is her story, told in her own words:

I have been married for 31 years, and all of it has been a trauma. My husband always beat me for the smallest thing that went wrong. He would not let me go out of the house, would not let me go to work. My job was to stay at home. I was not even allowed to buy food. He was sickly jealous. If I went to a shop it was because I was having an affair with the supermarket manager.
When I came home I got the beatings.

So many times I thought of leaving, and I took the children and thought where to go. The problem is that there was no place I could go, no family and no sisters or brothers that wanted to help me. When I arrived back home … he laughed in my face and said that I would never be able to leave him.

I had seen the Black Women’s Centre in the street… but I never thought they could help me because it was a place for black women and I am white. But one day I was so desperate that I closed my eyes and went in anyway. The way in which people welcomed me was amazing. They immediately made time for me and sat down to listen.

I don’t know how I would have continued to live without this house. It really has been my salvation

Discrimination and violence are being challenged by the black women’s movement in Brazil.

Brazilian society remains riddled with discrimination. It is one of the most unequal societies in the world, and black people continue to make up most of the country’s poor. Black women suffer additional difficulties – being female makes them even more vulnerable in a society dominated by men.
Nearly half of black Brazilian women are illiterate; no more than one in ten manages to go beyond the fourth year of primary education; and only 1% of black women in Brazil attend university. Generally, they take the lowest paid jobs as domestic servants and cleaners. They are frequently subjected to abuse and violence by men - often men they know, and usually the perpetrators go unpunished.

Discrimination and violence are being challenged by the black women’s movement in Brazil. In 1990, a women’s group in the Baixada Santista region of São Paulo state established the Black Women’s Centre, the first of its kind in Brazil.

The centre’s main aim is to help women of any race, who have suffered violence at home, work, or in the street, and to provide them with free legal advice, counselling and job training. The centre's lawyers, psychologists and social workers work with the police, courts and government to try and increase the number of abusers being brought to justice. They are hoping to change the police's attitude to women who suffer violence and to make health workers more sensitive to women’s problems.

The centre's activities are not confined to the local area. Its ‘Zero Tolerance of Violence against Women’ campaign had a nation-wide impact.

http://www.casadeculturadamulhernegra.org.br/