Birth Control and Violence Are Brazilian Women’s Main Concerns

There are two "relevant matters" to be dealt with in the area of female health in Brazil: domestic violence and access to birth control devices.

This is the opinion of Zuleica Albuquerque, national adviser to the Family and Food and Nutritional Security Unit of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO).

She is participating in the National Seminar on Social Control of Women’s Health Policies, which began Tuesday, March 14, and will end Thursday, March 16, in Brasí­lia.

She points out that women’s health has advanced in many areas in Brazil. "Years ago women had no access to contraceptives for family planning or programs to deal with problems of infertility," she said.

In her view, what is needed is to increase the availability of contraceptives, "especially for poorer women in more remote areas," she points out. When it comes to violence, she affirms that "much remains to be done, but there is a great awareness of the problem."

She says that what Brazil needs first "is to encourage women to declare they are being abused. This is a serious matter. They hide it for psychological reasons, for fear of ending up alone or losing their companion."

The second step, in her opinion, is to train health professionals to help these victims. "A lot of care is necessary to handle this. It is a matter involving sentiments, and health workers often lack this ability."

Albuquerque went on to say that "Brazil has a long tradition of struggles on behalf of women, while other countries, especially in Central America, are still way behind."

Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Hedgefund.net's logo

Brazil and Latin America Get New Hedge Fund Benchmark

HedgeFund.net (HFN) has announced the launch of a new hedge fund benchmark for funds ...

Pope Benedict XVI

Lula Wants Pope to Show the World Brazil’s Good Social Policies

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced this morning during his weekly radio ...

To Avoid Oil Curse Brazil Needs to Use It to Promote Kids and Human Intelligence

In the last fifty years, Brazil has invested in the city of São José ...

Cheaper Computers Bring Explosive Growth to Brazil’s Internet Commerce

Brazil's electronic commerce should generate 9.6 billion reais (US$ 5.6 billion) in revenues and ...

Brazil Bank to Finance All Concerning Biodiesel

Brazil’s National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) announced the creation of the Program ...

Brazil Hosts 1,000 LatAm Youth for UN Millennium Goals

Young people from Latin America and the Caribbean gather tomorrow in southeast Brazil for ...

With an Eye on Reelection Brazil President Is Back on Twitter After Three-Year Silence

The president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, is breaking close to three years of silence ...

US President George W Bush talks with the Brazilian flag on the background

Bush Wants to Show Brazil and LatAm that Democracy Pays

According to a testimony from a senior US State Department official to the American ...

Mercosur flag

Brazil and Neighbors Open Mercosur Parliament for Business

Brazil's Speaker of the House, Arlindo Chinaglia, and the President of the Senate, Renan ...

Rio Fishermen Complain Only a Handful of Fish Species Still Survive at Guanabara Bay

As Guanabara Bay gets ready to stage nautical competitions in the 2016 Olympics, one ...