Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced a new bill to eliminate the wage disparity against women workers in his country.
President Lula da Silva announced a new package of over 25 bills on women’s rights “to reverse the decline in women’s rights in the country under the previous government” at a ceremony held at the Planalto Palace in the capital Brasilia on March 8, International Women’s Day.
The most important issue in the package is a bill that guarantees equal pay for men and women doing the same job.
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The package includes plans to spend 372 million reals (approximately 1 billion 370 million liras) to build shelters for women victims of domestic violence and 100 million reals (approximately 368 million 253 thousand liras) to support science projects led by women.
“Brazil is back in the fight against all forms of violence against women”.
Speaking at the ceremony, Lula da Silva said that the government led by former President Jair Bolsonaro “lacks respect for destroying public policies, cutting basic budgetary resources and motivating violence against women”.
Blaming his predecessor Bolsonaro, described as a “far-right extremist” for the setback in women’s rights, Lula said, “I am pleased to say that Brazil is back. Brazil is back to respect for women and the fight against discrimination, harassment, rape, femicide, all forms of violence against women.”
Brazilian President Lula da Silva emphasized that there are many forms of violence against women and called it “the duty of the state and society as a whole” to combat each of them.
According to a 2018 report by Human Rights Watch, Brazilian women workers generally earn 23 percent less than men, despite their higher levels of education.
