{"id":8336,"date":"2017-09-18T18:57:33","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T16:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=8336"},"modified":"2017-09-18T19:06:25","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T17:06:25","slug":"the-world-is-a-horrible-place-to-be-a-woman-brazilian-writer-launches-sexual-violence-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2017\/09\/the-world-is-a-horrible-place-to-be-a-woman-brazilian-writer-launches-sexual-violence-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;The world is a horrible place to be a woman&#8217;: Brazilian writer launches sexual violence campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2017\/aug\/30\/world-horrible-place-to-be-a-woman-brazilian-writer-clara-averbuck-launches-sexual-violence-campaign-uber\">The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8338\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/179907_60_news_hub_multi_630x0.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8338\" class=\"wp-image-8338 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/179907_60_news_hub_multi_630x0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/179907_60_news_hub_multi_630x0.jpg 630w, https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/179907_60_news_hub_multi_630x0-300x229.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-8338\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An activist stands in front of the exhibition on Copacabana beach | Image: Facebook\/Rio de Paz<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Blogger and activist Clara Averbuck, who says she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver in S\u00e3o Paulo, is using social media to take arms against abuse<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A Brazilian feminist writer and activist who says she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver in S\u00e3o Paulo has\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/claraaverbuck\/status\/902287986494201856\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">launched an online campaign<\/a>\u00a0after writing and posting about the attack.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/claraaverbuck\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Clara Averbuck\u2019s Twitter drive<\/a>\u00a0is the latest in a series of digital protests that Brazilian feminists have used to denounce violence against women.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened is what happens to hundreds of thousands of Brazilian women,\u201d said Averbuck. \u201cThis is a daily situation, it\u2019s not just\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/uber\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Uber<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-2 | 1\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-feature--item \">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__image-container u-responsive-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/c58d1ee01502e924cb1fc6ceae2cfa8eb85f67ba\/0_73_5237_3142\/5237.jpg?w=460&amp;q=55&amp;auto=format&amp;usm=12&amp;fit=max&amp;s=4612612f54d6923a42ac4ea296ab3738\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__header\">\n<h4 class=\"rich-link__title\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"rich-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2016\/jun\/03\/brazil-argentina-unite-protest-sexual-violence-gender\">Brazil and Argentina unite in protest against culture of sexual violence<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Averbuck has a bruise on her face as a result, she says, of the driver knocking her to the ground while sexually assaulting her. She has yet to decide if she will report the attack to police.<\/p>\n<p>She said that as an activist she has witnessed the shabby treatment of women reporting such attacks and is also afraid of possible reprisals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese crimes are very hard to denounce,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have the issue of when you cannot prove it materially, this could come back against you, the aggressor could sue you. This has happened to various women. This is very common in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some women have even been physically attacked by the person they accuse, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Averbuck was one of the first bloggers in Brazil to become famous and has since published seven books, four of which are novels. She also runs the feminist site\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/lugardemulher.com.br\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">A Woman\u2019s Place<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>She said she was at a party in S\u00e3o Paulo on Sunday night when friends called an Uber to take her home. When he neared her apartment building, the driver pulled into a darkened street and attacked her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe driver took advantage of my vulnerable state because I had been drinking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday morning, she\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/averbuck\/posts\/866335266825064\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">posted about the attack on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am talking about this so that everyone who reads me knows what could happen to any woman, at any moment, and that helplessness and despair are inevitable,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe world is a horrible place to be a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8339\" style=\"width: 687px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/677.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8339\" class=\"wp-image-8339 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/677.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"677\" height=\"406\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/677.jpg 677w, https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/677-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 677px) 100vw, 677px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-8339\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clara Averbuck. Photograph: Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2006, Brazil introduced legislation to combat violence against women: the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/magazine-37429051\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Maria da Penha law<\/a>, named after the woman who fought for years to get her husband jailed for the abuse she suffered. The law increased penalties for offenders, established special courts and police stations, and required shelters to be opened, but the problem is recurrent in this deeply conservative and macho society. In 2013,\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pri.org\/stories\/2015-11-18\/brazils-shocking-violence-against-women-five-charts\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">more than 4,500<\/a>women were killed in Brazil.<\/p>\n<p>According to a\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/internacional\/en\/brazil\/2017\/03\/1864633-29-per-cent-of-brazilian-women-say-they-have-been-victim-of-some-form-of-violence.shtml\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">survey<\/a>\u00a0published in March by the Datafolha polling institute, 29% of Brazilian women had suffered verbal, physical or psychological violence in the past year, but 52% of them chose to keep quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMasculinity is constructed on violence, on domination and on subjugation of what is feminine,\u201d Averbuck said. \u201cIt is a problem [in]\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/brazil\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Brazil<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A growing feminist movement has increasingly used social media to campaign against abuse.<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, tens of thousands of women shared photos with the caption \u201cI don\u2019t deserve to be raped\u201d, after a survey showed many men blamed women for attacks. In 2015, an online campaign called\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/primeiroassedio\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">My First Harassment<\/a>\u00a0(<em>#primeiroass\u00e9dio<\/em>) was launched after lewd comments were\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2015\/nov\/11\/brazil-explicit-tweets-junior-masterchef-star-online-campaign-against-abuse-sexual-harassment\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">tweeted about a teenage competitor<\/a>\u00a0on Brazil\u2019s Junior MasterChef TV show.<\/p>\n<p>Sinara Gumieri, a lawyer and researcher for the feminist thinktank Anis Institute of Bioethics, said many women choose not to report crimes of sexual violence for similar reasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe history of how police attend women is very bad. There is a lot of discrimination, of not believing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for Uber said that the driver had now been barred from driving for the company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUber repudiates any kind of violence against women. The partner driver was blocked and we are at the disposal of the competent authorities to collaborate with the investigations,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n<p>Uber declined to provide details of how many women are attacked by its drivers each year. Some women using the hashtag\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MeuMotoristaAbusador?src=hash\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">#MyAbuserDriver<\/a>\u00a0(#<em>MeuMotoristaAbusador<\/em>)shared security techniques they adopt when using Uber, such as photographing the driver\u2019s licence plate and sending the images to friends and partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Guardian Blogger and activist Clara Averbuck, who says she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver in S\u00e3o Paulo, is using social media to take arms against abuse A Brazilian feminist writer and activist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,85,43,65,88,17,49,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editor-selection","category-human-rights","category-human-rights-online-library","category-others","category-slider","category-women","category-womens-rights","category-world","country-world","Documents-statements-multimedia","Documents-conventions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8336"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8341,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8336\/revisions\/8341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}