Brazil

When a leftwing female congresswoman was described as too ugly to be raped, Manuela D’Avila’s stomach turned. The speaker was Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian far rightwing congressman and presidential candidate.

That feeling only worsened after the execution-style murder in March of Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro councillor, a crime that many attribute to the fact that she was a black lesbian activist.

Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco was on her way home Wednesday evening when she and her driver were shot and killed on the road.

The 38-year-old left-leaning politician was an outspoken critic of police brutality, according to The Guardian. That evening, she had participated in a discussion about black women changing the status quo.

UN Women launched www.cidade5050.org.br where candidates will be able to make public commitments to gender equality.

After being harshly criticized for the complete absence of women in his government, Brazil’s Acting President, Michel Temer, have decided to put Maria Silvia Bastos Marques in charge of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff will soon submit nominations for senior positions to the Congress for approval. Positions up for nomination include directors at the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) and a judge on the Brazilian Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal – STF). But Rousseff, one of the world’s most powerful women, seems scarcely inclined to address the very poor gender balance in her government.