Brazilian Silvio Almeida, 14 months ago, when the first anonymous accusations against him emerged, was formally accused by the police of sexually harassing several women. Although the case remains under summary secrecy, among the alleged victims he stands out. Newspaper reports indicate that Almeida touched him during a ministerial meeting in the presence of the head of the Federal Police. Almeida, a philosopher with a celebrated academic career, was one of Brazil’s most prominent black intellectuals when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appointed him Minister of Human Rights. He pleads his innocence and says it’s all a campaign against him.
The police sent their complaint against Almeida to the Supreme Court, which is processing the case. This has been transferred, in turn, to the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic, which will decide if there is sufficient evidence to bring the alleged sexual harasser to trial. The complaint is being processed in the highest court because Almeida was a minister when the reported events occurred. The former minister has fallen into ostracism.
There is little certainty about the matter because the process is under secrecy. The magazine Piauí public . It is known that Minister Franco gave a statement to the police, but she has practically not spoken publicly about the matter. Both Almeida and Franco, sister of , were active in the black movement and came to the Government from worlds outside professional politics. They were two of the most popular ministers of the Lula Government among Brazilian progressives.
That of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, during a recent public act by a man, has put the spotlight on a type of violence that only affects women, but reaches even the most powerful among them.
The scandal broke out in September 2024 when the NGO Me Too Brasil, which defends victims of sexual violence, revealed that it had received anonymous complaints from five women against Minister Almeida. After the initial shock, given the public reputation of the accused, President Lula decided to cut it short. He called him to his office and demanded his resignation. When he refused, he dismissed him.
The first anonymous information was supported hours later by the open-face testimony that a woman posted on Instagram. Professor Isabel Rodrigues said that, after becoming friends with Almeida and sharing some coffees, in 2019, during a lunch with other people after a work meeting, he put his hand under her skirt and touched her private parts. “It took me a while to understand that I had been a victim,” he explained then.
