The Commission for the Defense of NA Rights has two men as its heads: Eli Borges (PL-TO) and Éder Mauro (-PA). The second has episodes of machismo and an accusation of threatening women deputies on his CV.
There are seven men on the bench, according to data from the Chamber this Wednesday (25). In addition to them, deputy Mauricio Marcon (PL-RS), impeached in 2024 by the TRE-RS (Regional Electoral Court of Rio Grande do Sul) for fraud in the gender quota, appeared as a substitute until Monday (23). Still in office, he is awaiting judgment on his appeal at the Superior Electoral Court.
The commission attracted public attention due to the federal deputy (PSOL-SP) becoming president two weeks ago.
The episode generated resistance from groups on the right and , under the argument that Hilton could not represent cis women, those whose gender identity is the same as their birth sex.
The participation of men in the commission did not generate the same stir. Éder Mauro is one of the deputies from the Chamber’s Women’s Secretariat. In an episode from 2021, during a meeting of the CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission), he told congresswoman Maria do Rosário (PT-RS) that she needed a doctor and medicine to “stop talking”.
In another episode in the same year, his demonstration was read as a threat by parliamentarians. In a virtual meeting of the CCJ, during an interview with Maria do Rosário and Fernanda Melchionna (PSOL-RS), he said that, as a delegate, he has already killed a lot.
“And I’ll say more, ladies and gentlemen on the left: I, unfortunately, have already killed, not just a few, no, a lot of people. All criminals. I wish you were here, physically, so we could discuss eye to eye. Go to sleep and forget about waking up.”
“This citizen has a history of disrespect, verbal aggression, political gender violence against women”, says Melchionna. “His participation in the Women’s Commission is to obstruct important agendas for Brazilian women. He is the expression of this toxic masculinity of the extreme right.”
A Sheet contacted Éder Mauro to comment on the matter, but he did not respond to the report.
Listed as a substitute on the Chamber’s website until Monday (23), Mauricio Marcon was removed from office in 2024 by the TRE-RS for fraud regarding the gender quota. The action is still being processed at the TSE. There are two votes for revocation, but the process is stopped due to the minister’s request for a review.
The TRE-RS understood that there had been fraud in the composition of the federal deputies of Podemos, the party for which Marcon was elected in the 2022 elections. The court identified a lack of allocation of minimum percentages of television time for women and black people.
According to the parliamentarian, participation in the Women’s Commission was part of a strategy to oppose the single ticket headed by Hilton, but he recently asked to leave the body.
Regarding the process that could lead to impeachment, his advisor states that it was “expressly recognized that the deputy (then candidate, at the time of the events) had absolutely no connection or interference with respect to the facts judged”, which would be the responsibility of Podemos.
“It is also important to note that any narrative that seeks to place the deputy in a position that is in any way opposed to women is just that, a narrative.”
Pastor Eurico (PL-PE), also on the bench, is the author of a project to repeal law 12,845, on mandatory and comprehensive care for people who are victims of sexual violence in hospitals and social assistance.
According to the project’s justification, the law targeted by the request for repeal would have as its “main objective to introduce abortion in Brazil”, although the term does not appear in the standard.
They analyze legislative proposals and promote debates with the participation of society. There are 30 permanent ones, such as Women’s, in addition to temporary and mixed ones, with deputies and senators.
The Women’s Commission is responsible, for example, for investigating allegations of threats and violations of rights, especially those of women.
The criteria for choosing members of the standing committees are based on party proportionality. Names are indicated by party leaders, who define which deputies will occupy the vacancies on the benches, with subsequent formal designation by the president of the Chamber.
The House’s internal regulations do not determine that the members of the commission must fit the identities they treat. Therefore, it is not necessary to be a woman to be part of the Women’s Commission or to be part of a minority group to participate in the Commission on Human Rights, Minorities and Racial Equality.
Representative Chris Tonietto (PL-RJ), who filed an appeal to annul the vote that led to Hilton’s inauguration, recognizes that the participation of men on the commission was never prohibited, not even in leadership.
“This is an institutional space for Parliament, and dialogue with male parliamentarians has always been part of the construction of public policies. However, it is important to make a clear distinction: participating in the debate is different from driving the agenda”, he stated. “I was against Erika Hilton’s election, in short, for one reason: Erika Hilton does not represent Brazilian women and their pain.”
For Hilton, “the attacks on my presidency and the silence regarding these serious cases of [envolvendo um titular da comissão] demonstrates the farce of the right”, he says.
“The presence of men with a history of violence against women on the commission is a symptom of the fact that our rights are being challenged and that women’s agendas are disputed and sometimes hijacked by sectors that only want to block progress towards the protection of all women.”
