Representative Célia Xakriabá (PSOL-MG) filed with the Chamber of Deputies, this Monday (11), a proposal that seeks to combat violence against indigenous women. The text, already called bill (PL) 4381/2023, establishes procedures to be adopted by police units and other bodies of the public security system to assist victims with this profile. The proposal targets all types of violence, such as physical, psychological, sexual, verbal, property, moral and political aggression.
The bill provides for specialized monitoring, which includes everything from assistance at police stations to the procedural guidance phase in cases where there is a request for a protective measure. It also creates the so-called “Multidisciplinary Support Network”, which may include “members of civil society, popular lawyers, psychologists, anthropologists, social workers and the like”.
The idea is to promote an association between the network and public authorities through a technical cooperation agreement so that victim assistance is properly monitored. This surveillance must include emergency procedures, health care, as well as actions in the areas of public safety, justice and the social assistance network.
“The bill aims to cover all indigenous women who put their bodies, minds and hearts into protecting their own lives and caring for the environment. We understand that, in addition to the violence listed by the Maria da Penha Law, indigenous women are still prone to be victims of political violence, because they are protectors of territories, of Mother Earth. Therefore, they often need to fight against the machismo embedded within communities so that the people resist and survive”, states Xakriabá, in the PL’s justification text.
The proposal also foresees the promotion of actions such as conversation circles, debates and lectures with guidance on the concept of violence against indigenous women. The text determines that there are interpreters within communities to disseminate this type of information among women. “We foresee, for example, the presence of more than one interpreter in cases of violence, as it is possible that a single one is a relative/friend of the aggressor and puts the victim’s word in doubt”, argues the deputy, in the text of the PL.
The project creates the so-called “Indigenous Women’s Service Agenda” and an annual calendar of events related to the topic, with plans to carry out joint assistance efforts. The PL does not cite specific dates for these actions. The text also provides for the availability of a national telephone service specifically designed to receive and forward reports of violence against indigenous women. The service must have connections with specialized police stations and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, in order to facilitate the initiation of case investigation procedures.
“He will not compete with the Maria da Penha Law. We continue to die and be raped inside and outside the territories. Our bodies need respect and need to be made visible in this process of death. We don’t want other girls and women to go through this”, says Braulina Baniwa, from the National Articulation of Indigenous Women, Warriors of Ancestralities (Anmiga).
Chief Irê, from the Jenipapo-canindé people, who live in Ceará, draws attention to the fact that violence against women in traditional communities is a phenomenon directly related to the cultural influence of the non-indigenous population on these territories, a flow that results directly from the process of European colonization.
“For us, this issue of gender violence within the territory is something very colonizing. Some people still have in their minds (the idea) that treating a woman badly is cultural, and it is not. We come to demystify and say that This is not culture. Our ancient peoples did not teach us to do violence, to practice the type of violence that indigenous women suffer in their territories.”
The PL was announced by Célia of Biodiversity through Ancestral Roots”. In total, 500 members of traditional communities gathered at the House for a solemn session that paid homage to the march. The PL was mentioned as an initiative on the political agenda of the event participants.
Editing: Thalita Pires
