President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva decided on Friday night (6) to dismiss the Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, Silvio Almeida, after allegations of sexual harassment. 
“The president considers it unsustainable to keep the minister in office considering the nature of the accusations of sexual harassment,” the Social Communication Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic reported in a statement.
The Federal Police have opened an investigation into the case. The Public Ethics Committee of the Presidency of the Republic has also opened preliminary proceedings to clarify the facts.
“The federal government reiterates its commitment to human rights and reaffirms that no form of violence against women will be tolerated,” the note concluded.
Silvio Almeida has been in charge of the ministry since the beginning of January 2023. A lawyer and university professor, he has established himself as one of the most important Brazilian intellectuals today by publishing articles and books on law, philosophy, political economy and, mainly, race relations.
Your book Structural Racism (2019) was one of the ten best-sellers in 2020 and many consider it an essential work to understand how racism is instituted in the Brazilian social, political and economic structure. One of the founders of the Luiz Gama Institute, Almeida was also the rapporteur, in 2021, of the commission of jurists that the Chamber of Deputies created to propose the improvement of legislation to combat institutional racism.
Accusations
The allegations against Minister Silvio Almeida were made public by the news portal Metrópoles on Thursday afternoon (5) and later confirmed by the Me Too organization. Without revealing names or other details, the organization states that it has assisted women who claim to have been sexually harassed by Almeida.
“As is often the case in cases of sexual violence involving perpetrators in positions of power, these victims face difficulties in obtaining institutional support to validate their complaints. In light of this, they authorized the confirmation of the case to the press,” explained Me Too, in a statement.
According to the website Metrópoles, among Almeida’s alleged victims was the Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, who has not yet spoken publicly on the matter.
Hours after the allegations became public, Almeida was called to provide clarifications to the Comptroller General of the Union, Vinícius Carvalho, and to the Attorney General of the Union, Jorge Messias. The Ethics Committee of the Presidency of the Republic decided to open proceedings to investigate the allegations. The Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom) reported, in a note, that “the federal government recognizes the seriousness of the allegations” and that the case is being treated with the rigor and speed that situations involving possible violence against women require”. The Federal Police (PF) reported today that it will investigate the complaints.
In a note released this morning, the Ministry of Women classified as “serious” the allegations against the minister and expressed solidarity with all women “who break their silences every day and report situations of harassment and violence”. The ministry also reaffirmed that no violence against women should be tolerated and stressed that all allegations of this nature must be investigated, “giving due credit to the victims’ words”.
Shortly after, the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, posted a photo of herself holding hands with Anielle Franco on her personal Instagram account. “My solidarity and support to you, my friend and colleague from Esplanada, in this difficult time,” Cida wrote in the post.
