the repudiation of speech by state deputy for São Paulo Arthur do Val (Podemos) marked the solemn session in honor of International Women’s Day, in Congress, this Tuesday (8). The president of the session, senator Eliziane Gama (Citizenship-MA), classified the behavior of the São Paulo politician as abominable and unacceptable.
Arthur do Val went to Ukraine in the midst of the conflict with Russia and posted a photo on social media in which he shows that he would be helping to produce Molotov cocktails for the fight against the Russians. Upon leaving the country, on the border with Slovakia, the deputy sent an audio to friends with sexist and misogynistic statements, comparing the line of Ukrainian refugees to the line of a “club” in the capital of São Paulo. In an excerpt of the leaked audio, Do Val says that he intends to return to Eastern Europe because women are very beautiful and “easy” for being poor.
“It is unacceptable behavior, unacceptable behavior, which needs to be strongly reprimanded and punished. Within the National Congress, I understand that we need to push the legislation even further so that postures and positions like these are not repeated in Brazilian society, especially for those who should protect the population, for those who should seek and ensure more rights for Brazilian women”, highlighted Elizabeth.
Still in the opinion of the senator, “if there is no room for wars, there should also be no room for exhibitionism and for words uttered with sexist comments”.
In the same vein, Senator Simone Tebet (MDB-MS) condemned the speech of the state deputy. For her, while the world watched, shocked, perplexed, without even understanding what is happening, the exodus of Ukrainian families where, especially women, mothers, grandmothers, with children in their arms, must leave their homes in search of a new history, without knowing where to go, in Brazil, the politician’s speech had repercussions.
According to the senator, while she is still trying to translate “what the Ukrainian Foreign Minister meant, in his language, which has very serious reports of Ukrainian women being raped and raped by Russian soldiers, behold, we do not need a translation to understand the speech of a deputy, who in the native language, in Portuguese, said that poor Ukrainian women are easy”, he criticized.
Simone Tebet was moved to read an open letter from journalist Jamil Chade to the deputy. In the post, Chad highlights that sexual violence is one of the weapons of war used to demoralize a society.
Senator Leila Barros (Citizenship-DF) used her speech to apologize to Ukrainian women for the deputy’s statements. “The machismo and lack of empathy he [Arthur do Val] demonstrated with the women of a nation that is enduring the sufferings of war dishonor and shame that country before the world. Therefore, on behalf of the Brazilian population and this National Congress, I offer my sincere apologies to the Ukrainian women,” said the senator.
Leila Barros added that Do Val’s statements “do not reflect the thinking of our people and that the deputy’s behavior does not let us forget that we continue to be victims of machismo, misogyny and domestic violence.”
Upon landing in São Paulo, on the 5th, Arthur Do Val was questioned by the press about his statements. He claimed to have made “a mistake in a moment of excitement”.
female participation
In the same session, other parliamentarians highlighted female achievements over the years and highlighted the low female representation in the Brazilian Parliament. “The levels of inequality between men and women are still alarming in our country, and lead us to different statistics of violence against women, the precariousness of female work and the underrepresentation of women in politics,” said deputy Tereza Nelma (PSDB- AL), by advocating that, in this year’s elections, women vote for female candidates.
The president of the Board of Directors of Magazine Luiza, Luiza Trajano, defended a quota system so that 50% of political seats are occupied by women. “The quota is a transitory process to settle an inequality. And the difference is still very big. There are more than 100 years for us to try to match. What is feminism? It is equality between man and woman. I doubt any senator or anyone who is going to have a daughter or a granddaughter does not agree that there should be equality between men and women. An equality of salary, an equality of ideas”, highlighted the businesswoman.
