Alone at last: Brazil on the road to Beijing

Abstract

In 1975 when the first World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City the United Nations embarked on a long process to draw attention to the female condition in the international arena and draft an international convention for the elimination of discrimination against women. In 1980 the second World Conference on Women in Copenhagen ascertained that despite these efforts the situation of women had deteriorated. This finding played an important role in launching the drive to empower women by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) through affirmative actions. In 1985 the 3rd Conference was held in Nairobi with an NGO Forum. At this time a recently formed council on the condition and the rights of Brazilian women started its activities in defense of women as Brazil had signed international conventions aimed at the development of affirmative actions in gender relations. In August 1985 the first Delegation of Women was established in Sao Paulo. In the last decade [present: 1995] feminist organizations and NGOs have proliferated. Social movements strove to reduce social and racial inequalities evidenced by the fact that White men earned wages four times higher than did Black women in Brazil. The situation in the 1990s was varied as the government did not curtail the activities of the NGOs but wanted to exercise control over them. In contrast to the previous conferences in preparation for the fourth Conference the government drafted discussion papers for seminars on gender and power relations; economic policies poverty and work; violence against women; the health and education of women; prostitution and traffic in women; and public policies on the ethics of gender. By presidential decree in 1993 the National Committee for participation in the 4th Conference was also created. The National Council on the Rights of Women also became active in preparing papers and helping to organize seminars.