Despite the progressive increase in the presence of women in Brazilian politics, they still especially in the positions of leadership. Proof of this is that, currently, only 3 of the 26 legislative assemblies in the country are chaired by deputies.
Reelected President of the Amapá Assembly in unanimous vote, Alliny Serrão (União Brasil) is one of these three exceptions.
Graduated in law, she was a councilwoman in her hometown, Laranjal do Jari (AP), before becoming state deputy.
He reports that his father -in -law’s performance as councilman and his mother -in -law as state deputy aroused his passion for politics.
In Maranhão, in turn, Iracema Vale () is the one who commands the legislature. Born in the capital São Luís, daughter of taxi drivers and teacher and mother of two children, she acted as a nurse and federal civil servant.
In party politics three decades ago, it was the most voted state deputy in Maranhão in 2022, with 105,000 votes.
Complete the trio Ivana Bastos (), President of the Assembly of Bahia since the departure of Deputy Adolfo Menezes (PSD) of the position in February.
Of a traditional family of politics in the southwest of the state, it is in the fourth term of state deputy.
The three claim that there are peculiarities in occupying a place of leadership when one is. They report facing prejudices and lack of recognition.
“It is necessary to deal with a greater charge to prove capacity, while stereotype and prejudice impose barriers that are largely not experienced by fellow men,” says Alliny Serrão.
Ivana reports that she felt great support from her first election, but says the scenario was different in the second campaign.
“I have faced more difficulties and questions. Some men do not conform to the fact that a woman occupies a space of power and try to prevent this breakthrough. It was a process marked by attempts of judicialization and even maneuvers to redo, which shows how much we still need to evolve in politics when it comes to female presence,” he says.
Another obstacle is about their private lives. For Ivana, they are more charged in relation to the presence in the family environment.
“This is often not a concern the same way for men. Nevertheless, I face these challenges with determination, knowing that I am opening doors for more women to occupy leadership spaces,” she says, married, mother of two children and grandmother of two grandchildren.
In 2022, 187 women were elected state deputies, which corresponds to 18% of vacancies in the legislative assemblies. In 2018, the proportion was 15%. In the case of the Federal District, whose Legislative House is called the District Chamber, 4 of 24 members are women. The number remains unchanged since 2018.
The number contrasts with the female presence in political parties: they are 46% of the affiliates, according to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). When the number of application is observed, the proportion drops to 34% in the last two elections (2022 and 2024).
It is a funnel, says researcher Evorah Cardoso, doctor in legal sociology from USP. Women, he says, find difficulties and lack of support for each stage of the political career, starting with the candidacy until permanence or rise in positions.
TSE data also show that of the more than 187,000 candidates who ran in their cities in the 2020 election, only 24% were campaigning in 2024. Among men, the rate of “recullances” has always been around 40%.
Since 2009, political parties have been required to allocate 30% of their candidates for deputy or councilman for women. Nevertheless, legislation is often not respected, and acronyms often articulate by amnesty so as not to punish those who disrespect this percentage.
At the federal level, the House and the never had women. Until 2021, no woman had not even competed for the Senate presidency. In the House, the first application occurred in 2013.
Brazil currently occupies the position 135 of the ranking of women’s performance in legislative assemblies, according to a survey prepared by the TSE. The country with the most female representation in the legislature is Rwanda, with 63.7% of members. Yemen, Tuvalu and Oman tie in the last position, 182, with zero female representativeness.
Away from politics since 2022, Manuela D’Ávila says the routine of attacks and threats has influenced her decision not to apply for any position in recent years. For her, there is a lack of punishment for those who practice violence against women.
“The naturalization of violence, the absence of instruments and the fact that the parliamentarians are the main actors in the construction of gender and race political violence are the full proof that we are not blessed in this space,” he says.
