The Feminization of Poverty

Considering the combination of gender-ethnicity, the situation of Afro-Brazilian women is much worse in all fields. Women's average pay remains as to 50% of those of men, while black women earn 50% of white women’s average (ref. ILO, 2005). According to ILO if the present development rates remain, in a period of 475 years women will get the same level as men (ref. ILO 2005). Families only consider women as important to do household tasks; consequently, they are not motivated to attend formal classes.  Educationally, for the same stereotype reason, major fields of study are prone to be towards humanities or health and medical services. Black and poor students drop out school at early age, as the families need work force in the agricultural areas and income to free them from famine. Adults from 25 to 39 years old present high illiterate taxes; respectively 21.6% and 37.1% in the North Region. In the Northeast 22.6% of adults which are 25 to 39 years old are not able to learn due to poverty, difficult access to school, difficulties in learning as educational methods are old-fashioned, curricula and teaching materials are not adequately suited to regional patterns, teachers are not skilled for the profession, there is an absence of infrastructure and facilities, also the monthly wage corresponds to US$ 30.00. Focusing on health, statistical data show that there are 13 million people suffering from hypertension, 4.5 million with diabetes and there is no financial budget to cover these treatments in public institutions. Besides that, half percent of Brazilian women do not have a pre-neonatal adequate treatment. The concepts of oppression, dominance and violence may be among the ways poor people analyze the context of their lives. Among them priority attention should be given to women and adolescents which are victims of sexual violence, rape, requiring psychological, clinical and gynecological assistance, due to post-rape pregnancy, prevention of HIV-STDs, prevention of hepatitis B, orientation for adoption of the new-born when the victim desires to do so, legal orientation for the victim, and special treatment for the pregnant women who have decided to interrupt the pregnancy. Defining domestic violence in Brazil requires looking at a wide spectrum of issues across communities. They range from rape, beatings, and insults faced by women at one end, to husbands not getting their meals on time at the other end. Nevertheless, barriers to mainstreaming exist in Brazil, especially concerning violence; it is clearly practiced in the Brazilian society regardless to socioeconomic strata or ethnical group and can be noticed mostly in family domestic premises. Rape and sexual abuse of children and teenagers by relatives and/or unknowns frequently happens. Involvement in Sex industry is a present problem, as well. Violations of Women Human Rights are present in Brazil, changes should be brought by legislators, Executive and Judiciary Powers to advance in public policies to change the dark side of constitutional violences against women.