Female representation in our society is flawed, and in politics it’s even more deficient. In Brazil there are measures that ensure better representation in elections, for example, the law number 9.504 from 1997, which administrates Brazilian elections, institutes that each party or coalition must have at least 30% of their candidacies reserved for women. However, this law has not always been respected: women are only 12% between all the senators.
Currently, the state of São Paulo has three acting senators, of which only one is a woman: Senator Marta Suplicy from MDB (Movimento Democrático Brasileiro or Brazillian Democratic Movement, in English). This year the country will hold elections, and two of these three spots will be filled. Amongs the eighteen São Paulo candidates for the Senate, six are women, here are them:
1. Silvia Ferraro
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The teacher and member of PSOL (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade, or Socialism and Freedom Party), was born in Campinas and is running for Senate for the first time. Silvia, who’s a UNICAMP (Campinas State University) history major, has already run for mayor in her hometown, but wasn’t elected. After registering her candidacy, she declared possessing a total of R$ 0,00 in assets to her name. In a text, published on PSOL’s website, she talked about how “the struggle for the legalization of abortion in Brazil is a part of the struggle for justice, gender equality and essential rights to the emancipation of women”. Among her proposals are: the fight against social inequality and progressive taxation.
2. Cidinha
Image Source: Aloisio Mauricio Fotoarena
She is the first black woman candidate for the Senate in São Paulo in 464 years. Cidinha already ran for state deputy in São Paulo in 2014, but wasn’t elected. In the 2018 she’s running as an MDB member. Born in São Paulo and now retired, she’s a consultant for the Committee for Racial Equality and the OAB-SP’s Coordinating Body for Social Action. Cidinha promises to work mainly for the benefit of black women. “I’ll act mainly in policies for women. There are 600 women victims of domestic violence everyday in the country and one case of rape every ten minutes. I’m not talking about creating new laws, but enforcing the ones that already exist so that we can, finally, protect women”, she said in an interview for a Brazilian journal.
3. Maurren Maggi
Image Source: 24horasnews
The PSB (Partido Socialista Brasileiro or Brazilian Socialist Party) candidate, born in São Carlos, is a former olympian athlete and is just starting her career in politics. Maurren became the biggest name in the history of female athleticism in Brazil, when she won a golden medal during the 2008 Olympiads. She’s been a PSB member since April 2018 and registered her candidacy in August. Behind the slogan “Vote in the strength in person”, she talks on the radio, television and the internet about how she decided to pursuit a politics career due to being as indignant as the “common” people. The candidate defends incentives to education, health care and sports.
4. Moira Lázaro
Image Source: OAB-SP
Rede (Rede Sustentabilidade or Sustentability Rede) did things differently this year by launching the candidacy of the trio Moira Lázaro, Nilza Camilo and Ana Paula Massonetto. But, although the party considers they form a “collective mandate”, the electoral justice recognizes Nilza and Ana Paula as no more than substitutes for Moira.
Recently they have declared: “we fight for and are committed to the empowerment of women in politics. We can’t allow for quotas to be simply filled and stop at that, we need to engage women so that they can occupy their space with confidence and quality”, said Moira Lázaro, member of the first Senate slate composed only by women. Moira was born in Catanduva, in São Paulo’s countryside, Nilza is part of the social movement Frente Favela Brasil and Bruna is from São Paulo’s coast. Due to their regional diversity, they promise that important issues from all corners of the state will be discussed.
5. Eliana Ferreira
Image Source: Dgabc
The PSTU (Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado or United Worker’s Socialist Party) candidate was born in São Bernardo do Campo, a city located in São Paulo’s metropolitan region, and, so far, participated in three elections. She ran once for mayor in São Bernardo do Campo, but wasn’t elected, and two times for alderwoman, once in the city of Osasco, also a capital’s neighbor city, and a second time in her hometown. Eliana declared during her party convention that her candidacy is in favor of the working class and that she defends women’s rights, the legalization of abortion and equal pay. Her slogan is “São Paulo needs a revolution”, which reinforces her wishes to built an administration for workers.
6. Mara Gabrilli
Image Source: Revista Diária
She’s currently a federal deputy for PSDB (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira or Brazilian Social Democracy Party), the same party under which she’s running for the Senate, and has already been an alderwoman in São Paulo. She promises continuing to fight against corruption through a standing committee. Being quadriplegic after a car accident, she’s been fighting for disabled people’s rights for a long time. Mara was a part of the São Paulo’s town hall program Pessoa com Deficiência and founded the Mara Gabrilli Institute, which works on programs in the defense of disabled people’s rights. She was also invited to participate in a United Nations committee for disabled people.