Six ministers and one minister from the federal government participated, this Sunday (7), in Brasília, in the Levante Mulheres Vivas act called by dozens of civil society organizations. THE manifestation occurred in several capitals across the country after a succession of feminicide cases that shocked society. 
Under heavy rain showers, the event also included the participation of First Lady Janja Lula da Silva. The minister who participated was Social Development, Wellington Dias.
The ministers of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, of Women, Márcia Lopes, and of Management, Esther Dweck, during the Levante Mulheres Vivas, in the central area of Brasília – Photo Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
The Minister of Women, Márcia Lopes, defended that women need to occupy 50% of political positions in Brazil. “We will not vote for a man who attacks, who offends women. We will not vote.”
The Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, said that this is a civilizing struggle, which needs the participation of men.
“It is very important to have men alongside us on this journey. This fight belongs to the whole of society. We have to join forces to remove this scourge from society. We have a historical and cultural problem of women’s subordination and we have to change that”, he stated.
The Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, remembered her sister Marielle Franco, a Rio councilor murdered in 2018 in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).
The Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, speaks during the Levante Mulheres Vivas in Brasília – Photo Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
“When Marielle was murdered in the way she was, with five shots to the head, then her mother Bernadette, a few years later, with 21 shots to the head, there was a message given to these women. We are here today to say that they will remain alive, standing, fighting, occupying all spaces, whether they want it or not. We will remain”, he stated.
Even recovering from surgery, the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara, participated in the event in a wheelchair. She recalled that violence against indigenous women remains invisible.
“This violence that we see today on social networks, in the news, in indigenous territories happens equally and it doesn’t even become news. They remain anonymous and they haven’t even become statistics yet”, he lamented.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Luciana Santos, also participated in the event, who argued that women’s fight against violence is centuries old.
“This is so that we can understand the scale of the battle that lies ahead. Therefore, the fight so that we have equal pay for equal roles, daycare centers, rights so that, in universities, women who pursue a scientific career can advance without any type of hindrance”, he stated.
In her speech, first lady Janja Lula da Silva lamented femicides and called for tougher measures against the murder of women.
The first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, called for tougher penalties for feminicide – Photo Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
“May today be a day that will be marked in the history of this women’s movement in Brazil. We need tougher penalties for feminicide. It is not possible for a man to kill a woman and, a week later, be on the street to kill another. This cannot happen”, he said.
Also participating in the event, at the TV Tower, in the central area of Brasília, was the Minister of Management and Innovation, Esther Dweck.
Understand
The national mobilization was called after a wave of recent femicides that shook the country.
At the end of November, Tainara Souza Santos had her legs mutilated after being run over and dragged for around a kilometer, while she was still trapped under the vehicle. The driver, Douglas Alves da Silva, was arrested for the crime.
In the same week, two employees at the Federal Center for Technological Education (Cefet-RJ), in Rio de Janeiro, were shot dead by an employee of the institution who then killed himself.
On Friday (5), the charred body of Army corporal Maria de Lourdes Freire Matos, 25 years old, was found in Brasília. The crime is being investigated as feminicide after soldier Kelvin Barros da Silva, 21, confessed to being responsible for the murder.
Around 3.7 million Brazilian women have experienced one or more episodes of domestic violence in the last 12 months, according to the National Map of Gender Violence.
In 2024, 1,459 women were victims of femicides. On average, around four women were murdered per day in 2024 due to their gender. In 2025, Brazil has already recorded more than 1,180 femicides.
