The Movad Institute for Respect for Advocacy filed a public civil action against the Union to suspend the position in the (Supreme Federal Court) on the grounds that there is a gender asymmetry in the court.
In the action, presented in the federal court of the Federal District, the institute asks that the Union be ordered, by act of the president and the Senate, to nominate, hold a hearing and appoint a woman to the position of minister of the Supreme Court. It also asks that it be forced to pay compensation, “in a considerable amount, which must be used in favor of public policies for inclusion and equality between genders”.
In the action, the institute states that the current situation at the court is emblematic, with only one of the 11 seats on the STF being occupied by a woman — the minister, who will retire in 2029.
“This means that, in the current composition, the STF has less than 10% female representation, a percentage that is absolutely incompatible with gender parity, with Brazilian social reality — in which women make up more than 50% of the population and more than 50% of legal professionals — and with contemporary demands for representative democracy”, he argues.
Movad says that the absence of women in a minimally proportional number in the STF generates concrete effects, by restricting interpretative perspectives, compromising the plurality of constitutional jurisdiction and violating “democratic commitments that require constitutional courts to reflect the society they judge”.
“The STF decides on topics sensitive to women’s lives: domestic violence, reproductive rights, equal pay, structural discrimination, public protection policies, among countless others”, he recalls. “Female underrepresentation compromises the Court’s legitimacy in society.”
The entity recalls that the STF “cannot remain an asymmetrically composed structure, reflecting historical inequalities that the Constitution itself seeks to eliminate.”
In a note, the institute says that to see “a STF, the highest Court in the country, with only one woman (who will retire soon), among the 11 available seats, is to ignore the Constitution, reality, statistics, and the countless inclusion and equality programs of the federal government itself and the CNJ’s rules”.
“We emphasize that this is not a political or ideological act. We understand that the person appointed by the President has all the necessary requirements to carry out the role, due to his high and recognized technical capacity”, says the statement, which adds that Movad assesses that there are “numerous highly qualified women in the position”.
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