During Carnival, the Rio de Janeiro Section of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) will have teams on duty 24 hours a day to provide assistance and guidance to victims of violence against women, LGBTIphobia and religious and racial intolerance. Services will be provided via WhatsApp.
For cases related to gender, the Women’s Ombudsman’s Office provides the number (21) 99753-9037 to receive text messages, from Saturday (14) to Tuesday (17).
For situations of LGBTIphobia and other crimes of intolerance, the Directorate for the Defense of Diversity will have teams on duty between next Saturday (14) and Ash Wednesday (18).
The Women’s Ombudsman’s duty is part of the institutional campaign “Respect is Law”, focusing on preventing and combating violence against women during the Carnival period, which includes legal guidance actions, distribution of informative material and awareness-raising activities.
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According to the president of OAB-RJ, Ana Tereza Basilio, carnival is a moment that should be just about joy, but unfortunately it is necessary to deal with situations of violence.
“In these moments, many people don’t know what to do or who to turn to. That’s why OAB-RJ decided to offer this service, which aims exactly to guide people on where to seek help and adequate support,” he said.
Below are the names and WhatsApp numbers of the lawyers who will be on duty by the Diversity Defense Directorate, according to the days on which each group of professionals will be providing assistance and guidance via text messages:
Saturday (14)
- Francisco Dantas – (21) 98089-0254
- JC Gomes – (21) 98808-6911
- Sergio Santos – (21) 99047-8156
- Felipe Ribeiro – (21) 98700-5218
Sunday (15/)
- Natália Lacerda – (21) 97520-9072
- Beatriz Pereira – (21) 98196-9085
- Cristian Lins – (21) 97362-2690
- Rafael Quenil – (21) 96870-8077
Monday (16)
- Flávia Mendonça – (21) 99724-0654
- Dandara Calisto – (21) 99412-3954
- Luiz Elesbão – (21) 98293-3474
- Claudia Araujo – (21) 97536-7035
Tuesday (17)
- Fabiana Netto – (21) 96453-6986
- Adriano Fonseca – (21) 98892-0102
- Regitania Dantas – (21) 98518-4775
- Rodrigo Teixeira – (21) 98154-0379
Wednesday (18)
- Guilherme Henrique – (21) 98836-6451
- Lucas de Oliveira Lima – (21) 97197-9331
- Iris Bazilio Ribeiro – (21) 98090-5536
- Priscila de Fátima – (21) 99083-0766
LGBTI+ population
THE Rio Without LGBTIphobia program of the State Secretariat for Social Development and Human Rights will operate on-call during Carnival days to receive complaints. The Citizenship and Human Rights Hotline service, linked to the program, will operate 24 hours a day to receive complaints occurring throughout the state of Rio.
Reports of LGBTIphobia can be forwarded by calling 08000234567. The call is free. There is no need to have credit on your cell phone. Through WhatsApp, the LGBTI+ population can send a message to the number (21) 977062831.
According to the program, the demands received will be forwarded to the program’s technicians who work in the 24 units distributed in all regions of the state. These are professionals who provide social, legal and psychological assistance who will also be on call to handle complaints.
“The LGBTI+ population has a direct channel for urgent and emergency demands. We will be available 24 hours a day this Carnival”, said the superintendent of LGBTI+ Policies and coordinator of the Rio Sem LGBTIphobia program, Ernane Alexandre.
THE Rio Without LGBTIphobia it operates with 24 units throughout the state of Rio: there are 20 Citizenship Centers, three Community Centers and a Citizenship Hub. In 2025, more than 4 thousand people were served by the program.
