Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to verify whether and in which degree Brazilian's local policies are oriented toward strategic or practical gender needs. In order to achieve that I analyzed data on Brazilian local gender policies from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics' Survey of Basic Municipal Information 2009, the main findings of this analysis were: in 4,522 (81.3%) out of the 5,564 Brazilian municipalities there were not any gender unit. Only in 1,042 (18.7%) municipalities there was a gender unit. Only 3.4% of them have designed a plan and 6.8% have a budget. Around 7% of the municipalities implemented policies that address violence against women. Among these initiatives were shelters and domestic violence resource center. Policies were also implemented in education, health, or work. Some programs are developed in cooperation with the government at the national or state level, NGOs, religious institutions and worker's organizations. Among these, NGOs and religious institutions stand out. The greater the municipality's population size, the greater the likelihood of the existence of a gender unit. Gender policies were different across the Brazilian states as well. For instance, in Roraima, a state in the Northern Region, there was not any municipality with policies addressing women. It has been observed as well whether Mayors' characteristics were associated with the existence of gender policies in the municipalities.
Highlights
As national policies for decentralization had been implemented in Brazil, subnational governments have started to play a more central role in improving the lives of their citizens
The gender units have been categorized in the Survey as follows: (a) women’s secretariat; (b) shared secretariat; (c) sector subordinated to a secretariat; (d) sector subordinated to the Mayor; and (e) independent
The ranking of these gender units according to their order of importance in the local government structure would be: firstly, women’s secretariat; secondly, shared secretariat; thirdly, sector subordinated to the Mayor; fourthly, sector subordinated to a secretariat; and lastly, independent
Summary
As national policies for decentralization had been implemented in Brazil, subnational governments have started to play a more central role in improving the lives of their citizens. The transfer of decisions as well as of resource allocations to the local level increased the capability of municipal governments to provide services and improve the quality of their citizens’ lives. In this realm, gender activists and policy makers started thinking and proposing policies targeted to women. Policies targeted to women can be oriented to strategic or practical gender needs. Policies oriented toward practical gender needs do not challenge traditional gender roles; they are mainly concerned with improving low-income women’s living conditions. The purpose of this research, supported by Brazilian Special Secretariat for Women’s Policies was to verify whether Brazilian’s local gender policies are oriented toward strategic or practical gender needs.
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