Debates on female participation in brazilian parliament: under-representation, violence and harassment

Abstract

Women were one of the last social groups to conquer political rights in contempo-rary democracies. Although there are no more le-gal obstacles for female (active and passive) poli-tical participation, women’s presence in Brazilian parliaments is minimal. In the Lower House of Parliament (Câmara dos Deputados), after 2014 Elections – that is, 19 years after gender quota regulations in Brazil – women still occupy less than 10% of the seats. That being the case, in this brief study we revisit cultural, social and institu-tional variables which are commonly presented as a justification for female under-representation in Brazil. Subsequently, we address gender violen-ce situations which took place in Brazil’s Lower House of Parliament, as well as how they were dealt with by this house. Furthermore, in attempt to better understand the relations between gen-der, representation, violence and harassment in the political field, questionnaires were sent to re-presentatives in the Lower House of Parliament, where the two paradigmatic cases which are object of this study took place. In this attempt, we also interview the Vice-Governor of the Bra-zilian state of Piauí, a woman who can provide the perspective of the executive branch on the matter. These results’ analysis – including the percentage of answers – should allow us to raise a connection between gender violence in politics and female under-representation.