Brasília, June 22, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Federal Deputy Vanessa Graziotin (PCdoB/AM) declared today that a society in which women's space will be equal to men's is still a long way off. "Women are half the Brazilian population and a little more than half the voters; nevertheless, in the Chamber of Deputies, they occupy slightly more than 8% of the seats," she affirmed.

Graziotin is presiding the international seminar "Women on the road to power," which is being held in the Chamber of Deputies, in Brasília. The purpose of the meeting is to examine women's experiences involving access to power in Brazil, Chile, Sweden, and Mexico. The seminar is considered an opportunity to discuss and formulate proposals designed to foster policies enabling women to participate in the places where decisions are made in Brazil. Delegations from various countries, including Chile, Mexico, Sweden, Hungary, Spain, and Costa Rica, are in attendance.

A study by the Applied Economics Research Institute (Ipea) reveals that 72% of working women in Brazil exercise activities that require little qualification and receive salaries that average 40% less than men's. In addition, women bear a double work load and, frequently, sole responsibility for rearing their offspring. In Brazilian metropolitan areas, according to the Ipea, 25% of the families are headed by women. These data were presented at the international seminar.

According to data from the Parliamentary Union on the composition of legislatures (both Chamber and Senate) around the world, females make up nearly 40% of the lawmakers in the Scandanavian countries, while in South, Central, and North America, this percentage is still under 18%.

In the Deputy's opinion, given the fragile representation of women in the Chamber of Deputies, there is a need for them to organize. "There is no democratic society without a more effective participation by women," she asserted.

Reporter: Benedito Mendonça
Translator: David Silberstein