Page 32 - aruba-today-20180209

A32 FEATURE
Friday 9 February 2018
Women at Brazil Carnival push back against harassment

By PETER PRENGAMA a 34-year-old computer
Associated Press technician.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) As she listened to the music
— Ana Lobo, who is six with her 3-year-old daugh-
months pregnant, was at ter, Maria Marzal reflected
a pre-Carnival street party on why she wanted to join
last weekend when a man the party. The emergency
started yelling and calling room nurse said that ev-
her names. ery shift she sees at least
"Whore!" she remembered one woman who has been
him saying, apparently be- raped.
cause she was wearing a "It's a real fear, a cruel fear,"
revealing top. said Marzal, 27.
"Some men have this feel- Last year, military police
ing that they can do what- in Rio received 2,154 calls
ever to your body," said about violence against
Lobo, a 29-year-old artist women during Carnival.
who later that night at- Noting that figure means
tended one of the many one woman was assaulted
feminist-themed parties. every few minutes, security
"It's time for women to take officials and several non-
advantage of this moment" government groups that
to push back. In this Feb. 3, 2018 photo, women take part in the block party "Maria vem com as outras," or "Ma- have launched campaigns
Many women in Latin Amer- ria, join the other women," in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. against harassment.
ica's largest nation are do- Associated Press Thousands of stickers are
ing exactly that during this
year's Carnival celebra- party called "Mulheres Ro- plans for a block party pro-
tions, with block parties of dadas," or "Women Who test as a joke, and within
all-female musicians, shirts, Get Around," says Carnival 24 hours more than 1,000
necklaces and crowns with is a good time to focus on women said would attend.
messages like "my breasts, fighting harassment be- They knew they had struck
my rules" and several cam- cause it forces the question a nerve.
paigns to report and crack- of respect amid scantily "Carnival is just a small
down on harassment. dressed partygoers. piece of a much larger
The #metoo movement "A woman can be naked problem," said Rodrigues.
against harassment that in the street and nobody Since then, several other
is roiling the U.S. has yet to should be allowed to touch feminist-themed street
catch on in Brazil, which her," said Thome, a former party groups have been
has one of the world's reporter currently working formed in cities nationwide.
highest homicide rates for on a doctorate on female They include all-female
women, according to the participation in Brazilian bands and edgy themes
Brazilian nonprofit Mapa politics. that push back at tradi- In this Feb. 3, 2018 photo, a woman holds a fan that reads "'No'
da Violencia. Mulheres Rodadas began tional gender roles and is 'no!'' as she strike a pose with friends, during the Simpatia e
But while women's groups as a reaction to photo that even make fun of deroga- Quase Amor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
say that Brazil has a long went viral on Facebook of tory names. At one recent Associated Press
way to go to address in- a man holding a sign in Por- feminist-themed block
equality and ingrained tuguese saying he "didn't party, hundreds of women among others.
machismo, they see glim- deserve a woman who dressed up as animals they Roma Neptune, a 29-year- being handed out with
mers of a potentially bigger gets around." said they had been called old high school sociology messages like "'No' is 'no!'"
movement in the public di- teacher, says learning to and "Grabbing me won't
alogue about harassment play the agogo — a per- get you a kiss!" Websites en-
during Carnival and what cussion instrument that, like courage women report ha-
authorities and several or- all others during Carnival, rassment and direct them
ganizations are doing to is usually played by men to police stations.
crack down on it. — has been empowering. Maj. Claudia Morais, a Rio
The massive party officially However, she is disillusioned police officer who focuses
begins Friday and goes by men who claim to be on crimes against wom-
through Wednesday, but supportive but are not. en, says the discussion is a
in some cities, such as Rio "They say they are against step in the right direction,
de Janeiro, it's a multi-week machismo but won't put but that women must go
event. The hundreds of their hands in the fire when beyond that and make
block parties often include a woman is in dangerous reports when incidents
heavy drinking and round- situation," said Neptune, happen. Recent changes
the-clock samba danc- who dressed as a cow and in the law have made it
ing and they come during played in the band. easier to prosecute aggres-
the Southern Hemisphere's In this Feb 3, 2018 photo, a woman argues with a reveler who Anderson Semme, one of sors for rape even if there
sweaty summer month of tried to kiss her during the "Simpatia e Quase Amor" street party a few dozen men at the wasn't intercourse, added
February, when the heat parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Women same block party, agreed. Morais, who gave the ex-
drives many to wear few Associated Press "Men's role is to recog- ample of a man who has
clothes. nize we were wrong for a been charged with rape
Debora Thome, who in Thome and co-founder Re- on the streets: cows, pi- long time and now do the for recently ejaculating on
2015 co-organized a block nata Rodrigues announced ranhas, hens and cobras, right thing," said Semme, a woman in a public bus. q