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.
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.
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).
| Quota Information | Parliament Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Are there legislated quotas? | Yes | Structure of parliament | Unicameral |
| For the Single/Lower House? | Yes | >Current members | 513 |
| Percentage of women | 14.81% | ||
| Source: Gender Quotas Database | Source: New Parline | ||
With women making up 52% of electorate, experts say candidates need concrete proposals to tackle gender-based violence and other issues affecting women.
Maria* was between seven and eight years old when a Brazilian woman came to collect her in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivi
This post is part of Global Voices’ April 2026 Spotlight series, “Human perspectives on AI.” This series will offer insight into how AI is being used in global majority countries, how its use and implem
As usual, Congress gathers around this time of year to try to extract some electoral advantage from International Women’s Day. Close to March 8, lawmakers typically hold a joint effort to approve measures aimed at female voters—initiatives that, on their merits, few would oppose.
Over the weekend of November 6 and 7, 2025, thousands of Brazilians took to the streets to call attention to the rampant number of cases of violence against wo
With an eye on attracting sectors considered decisive for the elections, President Lula has concluded that he needs to further calibrate his rhetoric and actions aimed at women in order to reverse disapproval of his administrat
An apparent bottleneck exists in women’s participation in politics: the number of female party members exceeds the number of female candidates, which in turn is almost double the number of women elected, who, on average, account for less than one-fifth of all winners at
On a sunny September morning, Joyce Trindade works her way around the stalls of a secondhand clothing market here, distributing hugs and political pamphlets in equal measure.
In the run-up to Brazil’s municipal elections, FGV Press has just published an intense and long book featuring the moving stories of a hundred Brazilian women from all over the country who decided to tackle various obstacles and fight for a place in pol
In addition to their president, Brazilians will elect 513 members of parliament, one-third of the 81 senators and the country's 27 governors on Sunday.
Parliamentarians draw attention to messages with insults and death threats.
In October 2020, Brazilians will head to the polls to elect new mayors and city counselors in thousands of municipalities across the country.
Cleuzenir Barbosa, a retired teacher, was fed up with Brazil’s corrupt politics. She was also an avid supporter of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right politician who won the presidency last year on the promise to clean up the capital.
A female lawmaker who attended a swearing-in ceremony in a business suit accentuating her breasts is causing a furor in Brazil — a deeply conflicted country that recently elected an ultra-conservative president but is also known for skimpy swimsuits and exuber
Sao Paulo - Joenia Wapichana never thought she would get into politics.
The 43-year-old indigenous lawyer also never imagined she'd make history, not just once but on three occasions.
With just one week to go before Brazil’s Oct. 7 presidential elections, up to 10 percent of the country’s male voters remain undecided — and roughly 19 percent of female voters.
Hundreds of thousands of women across Brazil took to the streets Saturday to protest the presidential candidacy of far-right hopeful Jair Bolsonaro, known for making disparaging comments against women and other minorities, as well as supporting the u
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.
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.
After the brutal raping of a 16-year old girl by 30 men in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, different women's groups have carried out actions of rejection, as
New article published in The Atlantic explores the reasons behind Michel Temer’s decision to establish a white men only government in Brazil. Th
Dilma Rousseff, 36th President of Brazil, has been suspended since 12 May 2016 in the context of an impeachment process that led to former Vice President
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).
The poll from the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion, Ibope, and published by O Estado de Sao Paulo shows that 35% spontaneously even before presenting the list of possible candidates, said they would support Rousseff in 2014, which is three times the sum of all other presid
Women’s right to abortion, and the effective implementation of social policies, especially those directly concerning women, will be key issues at the Second National Conference on Policies for Women, to be held in Brasilia from Friday to Monday.
In an exclusive interview, Ms.
There are still too few women on the lists of candidates for Brazil’s municipal elections in October. Women candidates for the position of mayor in the Oct. 6 elections represent only 10.3 percent of the total, hardly larger than the 2004 figure of 9.5 percent.
The Brazilian government is congratulating itself on the first-stage approval of a draft electoral law that increases women's participation in party politics. However, the women's movement says it introduces no changes to a power structure that excludes women from politics.
| Quota Information | Parliament Information | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Are there legislated quotas? | Yes | Structure of parliament | Unicameral |
| For the Single/Lower House? | Yes | >Current members | 513 |
| Percentage of women | 14.81% | ||
| Source: Gender Quotas Database | Source: New Parline | ||
With women making up 52% of electorate, experts say candidates need concrete proposals to tackle gender-based violence and other issues affecting women.
Maria* was between seven and eight years old when a Brazilian woman came to collect her in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivi
This post is part of Global Voices’ April 2026 Spotlight series, “Human perspectives on AI.” This series will offer insight into how AI is being used in global majority countries, how its use and implem
As usual, Congress gathers around this time of year to try to extract some electoral advantage from International Women’s Day. Close to March 8, lawmakers typically hold a joint effort to approve measures aimed at female voters—initiatives that, on their merits, few would oppose.
Over the weekend of November 6 and 7, 2025, thousands of Brazilians took to the streets to call attention to the rampant number of cases of violence against wo
With an eye on attracting sectors considered decisive for the elections, President Lula has concluded that he needs to further calibrate his rhetoric and actions aimed at women in order to reverse disapproval of his administrat
An apparent bottleneck exists in women’s participation in politics: the number of female party members exceeds the number of female candidates, which in turn is almost double the number of women elected, who, on average, account for less than one-fifth of all winners at
On a sunny September morning, Joyce Trindade works her way around the stalls of a secondhand clothing market here, distributing hugs and political pamphlets in equal measure.
In the run-up to Brazil’s municipal elections, FGV Press has just published an intense and long book featuring the moving stories of a hundred Brazilian women from all over the country who decided to tackle various obstacles and fight for a place in pol
In addition to their president, Brazilians will elect 513 members of parliament, one-third of the 81 senators and the country's 27 governors on Sunday.
Parliamentarians draw attention to messages with insults and death threats.
In October 2020, Brazilians will head to the polls to elect new mayors and city counselors in thousands of municipalities across the country.
Cleuzenir Barbosa, a retired teacher, was fed up with Brazil’s corrupt politics. She was also an avid supporter of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right politician who won the presidency last year on the promise to clean up the capital.
A female lawmaker who attended a swearing-in ceremony in a business suit accentuating her breasts is causing a furor in Brazil — a deeply conflicted country that recently elected an ultra-conservative president but is also known for skimpy swimsuits and exuber
Sao Paulo - Joenia Wapichana never thought she would get into politics.
The 43-year-old indigenous lawyer also never imagined she'd make history, not just once but on three occasions.
With just one week to go before Brazil’s Oct. 7 presidential elections, up to 10 percent of the country’s male voters remain undecided — and roughly 19 percent of female voters.
Hundreds of thousands of women across Brazil took to the streets Saturday to protest the presidential candidacy of far-right hopeful Jair Bolsonaro, known for making disparaging comments against women and other minorities, as well as supporting the u
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.
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.
After the brutal raping of a 16-year old girl by 30 men in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, different women's groups have carried out actions of rejection, as
New article published in The Atlantic explores the reasons behind Michel Temer’s decision to establish a white men only government in Brazil. Th
Dilma Rousseff, 36th President of Brazil, has been suspended since 12 May 2016 in the context of an impeachment process that led to former Vice President
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).
The poll from the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion, Ibope, and published by O Estado de Sao Paulo shows that 35% spontaneously even before presenting the list of possible candidates, said they would support Rousseff in 2014, which is three times the sum of all other presid
Women’s right to abortion, and the effective implementation of social policies, especially those directly concerning women, will be key issues at the Second National Conference on Policies for Women, to be held in Brasilia from Friday to Monday.
In an exclusive interview, Ms.
There are still too few women on the lists of candidates for Brazil’s municipal elections in October. Women candidates for the position of mayor in the Oct. 6 elections represent only 10.3 percent of the total, hardly larger than the 2004 figure of 9.5 percent.
The Brazilian government is congratulating itself on the first-stage approval of a draft electoral law that increases women's participation in party politics. However, the women's movement says it introduces no changes to a power structure that excludes women from politics.
