The Commission for the Defense of Rights, currently chaired by the congresswoman (PSOL-SP), prioritized the approval of bills in 2025. The collegiate analyzed and endorsed, for example, the project that determines that aggressors must be monitored using electronic ankle bracelets,
Projects on women’s health, motherhood and early childhood were also approved, in addition to proposals that seek to promote economic autonomy. In total, during the last administration, chaired by deputy Célia Xakriabá (PSOL-MG), the commission approved 121 bills and held 102 meetings and events.
The board’s duties are to discuss and propose legislation aimed at promoting gender equality, in addition to monitoring and inspecting government policies aimed at women.
The commission also approved the allocation of R$3.6 billion in amendments to the Budget, of which R$1.7 billion was directed to the implementation and support of the Casas da Mulher Brasileira program, which seeks to guarantee conditions to combat and empower women.
This year, the commission will be chaired by Erika Hilton, the first trans woman to hold the position. Created in 2016, the collegiate has already had ten presidents, all women.
In addition to Hilton and Xakriabá, Gorete Pereira (PR-CE), Shéridan (PSDB-RR), Ana Perugini (PT-SP), Luisa Canziani (PSD-PR), Elcione Barbalho (MDB-PA), Police Officer Katia Sastre (PL-SP), Lêda Borges (PSDB-GO) and Ana Pimentel (PT-MG) chaired the commission.
after receiving 11 favorable votes in the second round of voting. In the first election attempt, the ticket had been rejected, as the deputy received 10 votes and 12 parliamentarians voted blank. Voting was virtual and secret.
“We have overcome the barrier of hate, the barrier of prejudice, the barrier of discrimination, the barrier of invisibility and the denial of one’s identity,” Hilton said in his first speech as president.
Also making up the ticket led by Hilton are deputies Laura Carneiro (PSD-RJ), Delegate Adriana Accorsi (PT-GO) and Socorro Neri (PP-AC), who occupy the 1st, 2nd and 3rd vice-presidency of the commission, respectively.
HAS SheetHilton stated that the commission “is a space for collective construction, which needs to reflect the real diversity of Brazilian women.” The new president states that she will prioritize the fight against violence and the “urgent fight against feminicide”, in addition to the debate “on the right to rest and the fight against the exploitation of female labor”.
The deputy highlighted that the 6×1 scale and the accumulation of formal and domestic work lead to the “violation of rights” of women who do not have time “to live, to study, to take care of themselves, to spend time with their families”. Hilton is and proposes a 36-hour work week over four working days.
“What we are not going to do is reduce women’s lives to a limited, biologizing and exclusionary vision”, he concluded.
During the election, Bolsonaro parliamentarians said that the majority of the collegiate would be against the group, but later the ticket won by one vote.
Representative Chris Tonietto (PL-RJ), for example, argued after the first vote that “there shouldn’t even be a second ballot”, but denied that she was trying to sabotage the election.
Despite the resistance, there was no proposal for a ticket that would compete against the one nominated by PSOL, as the commission presidencies were divided between the parties through an agreement reached at the beginning of the year.
After the election, presenter Ratinho said that Erika Hilton “is not a woman, she is trans”, which
The parliamentarian requested the opening of a public civil action with compensation of R$10 million for collective moral damages caused to the trans and transvestite population. Justice will try
This Wednesday (18), the first session of the commission registered turmoil and was suspended for a few minutes. The reason was the presentation, by the Bolsonaro opposition, of three requests: one for a motion in support of Ratinho, another for a motion to repudiate Hilton and another for technical visits to be made to trans women imprisoned in Colmeia. Ratinho’s was presented by Pastor Eurico (PL-PE).
The president, however, did not accept receiving the requests and starting their processing due to the transphobic tone of the requests, according to allies, which generated Bolsonaro opposition. No requests or projects were analyzed at the session, and Hilton said he will evaluate requests for future meetings. Supporters of the deputy attended the session, which had access restricted due to the room’s capacity limit.
Representative Bia Kicis (PL-DF), who is against Erika Hilton’s inauguration, says that the new president “is not concerned” with topics such as breastfeeding, pregnancy, menopause and hormonal changes, which “are among the main focuses” of the commission. She says that the deputy does not have “legitimacy to preside over this commission”. Kicis is not part of the Commission for the Defense of Women’s Rights, but works on women’s issues.
Representative Júlia Zanatta (PL-SC) highlighted, in her argument against the new president, the fact that Erika Hilton is a trans person. She, who is an alternate member of the commission, says that there would be a “deviation” from the purpose of the commission.
“The Women’s Commission cannot be transformed into a stage for ideological dispute. Its role is to represent concrete women, with real needs, and ensure that public policies are precisely targeted”, he says.
Representative Amanda Gentil (PP-MA), who is a member of the committee, assesses that the new management should not change the way the agendas are progressed. “I think we can work a lot in this direction that we have always had, of looking at women’s agendas regardless of the political aspect of each of the members or those who make up the table.”
She highlighted that cases of violence against women have been frequent and it is necessary to work “to combat the inequalities that we have, both physical and psychological as well as structural issues”.
Asked whether she was in favor or against Hilton’s election, Gentil said that the election has already taken place and that from now on it is necessary to “look ahead and build within the commission the work that we were already doing”.
Representative Célia Xakriabá, who chaired the commission before Hilton, stated that the election of the first trans woman marks a “historic moment”. “In the future, people will look at this history and understand how important we were in opening these paths”, he told Sheet.
“No forest is the same, no culture is the same, why do people think this way about being a woman? We will fight so that at no time can women here suffer prejudice, machismo, homophobia and transphobia, which is why our presence is uncomfortable,” she added.
The president of the women’s bench, deputy Jack Rocha (PT-ES), praised Hilton’s choice. She argues that it is common for patriarchy to try to “pit women against women” as a way to “diminish women in spaces of power.”
