A survey released by the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc) on March 8 shows that the management of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the presidency and of today Senator Damares Alves (Republicans) in charge of the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights left to invest in public policies for women, choosing not to use funds destined for the theme.
The study showed that the Bolsonaro-Damares administration gave up committing resources to policies to combat violence – with an impact on the 2023 budget, which will be executed by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), since the budget is always defined in the previous year.
More than that, Bolsonarism presented explicit positions against sexual and reproductive rights, in decisions taken without the participation of civil society.
Inesc evaluated investments in 79 actions from 27 programs from 11 different public bodies. The data are in the Pluriannual Plan 2020-2023 (that is, the budgets actually designed by the Bolsonarist administration). Among the topics addressed by the program are health, education, social protection and economic autonomy, in addition to combating violence against women itself.
Read more: See nine times Bolsonaro attacked women’s rights
The budget approved by the Bolsonarist administration, which was left as an inheritance for the Lula government, predicted the worst scenario in recent years, with only R$ 13 million destined for actions aimed at women. In the transition period, the PT administration managed, together with Congress, to increase the amount to R$ 33 million – an amount still below previous budgets.
neglect in the pandemic
Inesc pointed out that one of the most critical moments for public policies in favor of women was in 2020, the height of the pandemic. That year alone, the Bolsonaro government gave up investing R$ 80 billion that were available to face the consequences of covid-19. As a result, thousands of women stopped receiving emergency aid.
“At the time, women, more than ever, needed the support of the State, since living conditions worsened in general, and domestic violence increased when many had to do social isolation with their aggressors”, highlights Inesc’s political advisor, Carmela Zigoni, in a technical note that presented the data.
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
