The Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) and the Construction of a New Democratic and Citizen Culture as an Instrument for the Confrontation of Violence Against Children and Adolescents -- a Brief Report of the Brazilian Position

Abstract

This article proposes to contemplate the theme of violence, starting from the reference point of the Child and Adolescent Statute (hereafter, the ECA). This legal milestone originated from the 1988 Constitution, Art. 227, which provided for the creation of Law 9,069 of 13 July, 2000. This paper will reflect on some aspects of violence by contextualising it in the situation of childhood in Brazil by a theoretical cut-out as to what is understood as violence – more specifically, abuse and exploitation – and conveying some data about the Brazilian reality. Also, a brief report willbe given of some religious groups that established a new culture after committing themselves to the confrontation of violence against children and adolescents. Among the various experiences involved, the emphasis will be to highlight the Christian tradition as fueled by the reflectionsof liberation theology, which guided different groups to a political pronouncement. The approach of a gospel reading, which is lived daily and is the preferred option of the excluded, feeding the actions of both clergy and lay leadership, is presented in narratives of the actors involved in the process.