Brazil, Beyond the Amazon

By: Catarina Vita

August 23, 2020

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TW: R*pe, s*xual assault, ab*se, violence against womxn

From the Amazon to the best soccer players in the world, Brazil is the land of freedom and tropical wonders, right? Right.

This image that Brazil presents is nothing close to what Brazil actually is. We have passed the 100,000 deaths due to COVID-19 toll, our fascist, autocratic president is doing nothing to help, and little girls are getting raped and impregnated every day. In fact, Brazil records about one rape case every minute, more than half of them being under age 13. Nonetheless, 41% of Brazilian people think that abortion should be criminalized.

A 10-year-old child from the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, was rushed to the hospital after strong stomach cramps — she was pregnant. It was discovered that she had been abused by her uncle since she was six years old (that equates to four years of abuse), and tests show that he is the father of the child.

For her protection, the Ministério Público, an organization that focuses on presenting and trialing legal cases of extreme importance, did not release her name.

Although the abortion was permitted by Judge Antonio Moreira Fernandes from the Ministério, abortions in Brazil need to also be approved medically. Pavivi, the Brazilian organization that focuses on protecting survivors of sexual abuse and assault as well as their reproductive rights, did not grant the girl an abortion in Espírito Santo.

As her physical and mental health depended on it, the child’s family migrated to the neighboring state of Pernambuco to try to get her abortion granted. As the abortion was also medically necessary, doctors agreed to do it.

The news spread and crept into anti-abortion and pro-life (also referred to as pro-birth) activists’ social media platforms.

What is most predominant in the Brazilian political elite is not only money laundering corruption, but lack of integrity. The Minister of Women, Family, and Human Rights, Damares Alves, is a strong opposer to any kind of abortion. She, being the Minister, worked tightly with the case and knew the little girl’s details. A close political and personal acquaintance of hers is a pro-birth and pro-gun activist named Sara Winter. With previous instances of arrest due to the spreading of fake news, Winter’s platform should have been removed by now. However, it has not.

As the news that the little girl was off to Pernambuco to conduct her legally and medically allowed abortion spread, Sara Winter did a YouTube video about the little girl’s case; revealing her name and personal details, including which hospital the girl would be treated at, and which doctor would be performing the medical procedure.

Anti-abortion and religious extremists swarmed around the hospital and made a barrage to prevent the doctor that would conduct the abortion, Olímpio Morais Filho, from entering. Even quarantined extremists expressed their thoughts on the girl: a priest from the state of Minas Gerais said that the girl should be “enjoying it” because she could not come forward during her four years of abuse. A teacher doubted that the child’s abuse even happened, and countless people were reposting the baby’s ultrasound — private information shared without consent — saying, “the baby inside the girl’s belly could have been you.”

As of August 22, 2020, all of the social media platforms owned by Sara Winter were taken away from her. She was also fined a 1.3 Million-real* fine for exposing private information. The 10-year-old child underwent the procedure safely and she is alive and well; her rapist uncle has been detained.

But rape culture lives on.

As a Brazilian, I am not only outraged at this specific child rapist and other assaulters in general. I am outraged by the institutions that preach love for all, while still promoting rape culture and disregarding women’s consent behind closed doors. I am outraged by our never-ending political scandals that are based either in money or personal interest.

Fear is what overwhelms me; I don’t fear for myself as much as I fear for the millions of girls not exposed to sexual education, and for those being forced to live in an environment that encourages and perpetuates rape culture. Being vocal about this issue is the least we can do for my bruised country.

*Brazilian currency.

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Sources