An education sector left behind
The education sector faces many difficulties in meeting the challenges of emerging economies. As in many Latin American countries, the public sector is relatively under-resourced, while the private sector, with its sometimes very high tuition fees, is favored by the middle and upper classes. While the black and mestizo population accounts for 2/3 of the school-age population, it represents only a third of those enrolled in private schools.
There are almost 48 million schoolchildren in Brazil, with 180,000 schools and 2.2 million teachers to cater for them. School attendance is compulsory from age 4 to 17. In theory, the law punishes parents who fail to comply by depriving them, among other things, of the benefits of the bolsa familia (family allowance). The problem is not so much quantitative as qualitative. Many schools, particularly in the Nord and Nordeste regions, lack the infrastructure required for good teaching conditions. This is one of the factors behind the high drop-out rate. Reading areas, classrooms and computer equipment are far too few and far between, even though they provide access to knowledge that can be used in the world of work. Overall, under the Lula and Rousseff governments, inequalities in school transport between regions and between rural and urban areas have been reduced. However, statistically, black and mestizo populations have a greater distance to travel to school than white populations. This can also have an impact on school drop-out rates. For example, a third of young Brazilians do not attend school. In the Amazonian state of Pará, less than half of 15-17 year-olds attend school.
Another challenge concerns the training of teachers themselves. Poorly paid, the profession struggles to recruit and properly train its managers. Only half of high school mathematics teachers are adequately trained. Barely a third are trained in the visual arts. The PISA rankings thus clearly express the inadequacies of the education system. Barely half of 15-year-old Brazilians have a "basic" level in math, reading and science. The PISA ranking defines a "basic" level as one that enables the full exercise of citizenship. The country's democratic progress and its ability to live together will not be possible without a more egalitarian and equitable education system. However, the success of the bolsa familia must be emphasized, as it has put millions of schoolchildren from the most disadvantaged sectors of the Brazilian population back on the path to school, children who would previously have been reduced to begging.
Morals between conservatism and tolerance
As far as morals are concerned, Brazil is characterized by a conservatism stemming from the Christianity of the Portuguese colonists and, paradoxically, by a certain sexual freedom. The contraceptive pill has been authorized since 1962, whereas in France it wasn't until 1967 and the Neuwirth law. As in Western societies, marriage, the "sacred bond" uniting man and woman in religious societies, is gradually declining. Marriages are lasting less and less (17.5 years on average in 2009, compared with 13.5 years ten years later). Same-sex marriage has also been permitted since 2011. However, there are significant differences between regions. These differences can be explained not only by the age composition of the populations, but also and above all by the more "traditional" mentalities of families in the Nordeste and the North of Brazil. Divorce has been legal in Brazil since 1977. As in France, nearly one couple in three divorces in Brazil. In the event of divorce, the courts usually award custody of the child(ren) to the mother. Common-law unions are authorized and quite common. In this respect, Brazil is more liberal than many Latin American countries. However, abortion is still forbidden unless the mother's health is in danger, the pregnancy is the result of rape or the fetus is anencephalic.
A tolerated homosexuality
Homosexuality is widely tolerated in Brazil. Paradoxically, despite the rise in power of evangelical ultraconservatives, this tolerance has grown even stronger in recent years, with the number of Brazilians declaring themselves tolerant of homosexuality rising from 61% in 2013 to 67% in 2019. Since 2011, i.e. before France, Brazil has allowed same-sex marriage. Yet on this subject, as on so many others, Brazil is a land of paradoxes. In 2016, a huge sign on Copacabana beach proudly proclaimed "Rio without homophobia" during the 2016 Rio Olympics. A few years later, the Cariocas elected an evangelist mayor (who was not re-elected) who openly and violently rejected same-sex relationships. While it's easy to live one's sexuality in Rio, São Paulo and other Brazilian metropolises, it's far less true in the working-class suburbs and rural areas. The NGO "Grupo Gay de Bahia" points out that half of all homophobic crimes recorded worldwide were perpetrated in Brazil. The NGO also points out that a homosexual is murdered every 19 hours in Brazil. Yet there are signs of a positive evolution in Brazilian society. In 2013, for the first time, a telenovela showed a first kiss between people of the same sex. The impact on telenovela viewers, who are sensitive to religious precepts, has been considerable. The degree of tolerance towards homosexuality has benefited greatly from the positive opinion towards the stars of the small screen. In another tangible sign of changing attitudes, on Valentine's Day, celebrated on June 12 in Brazil, cosmetics companies now feature homosexual couples in their ads. The O Boticario brand was the first to launch an advertisement in which several heterosexual and homosexual couples kiss and exchange gifts, an advert considered "progressive" by some, shocking by others. The weight of the churches in Brazil is part of this ambivalence. The reaction of the main Catholic leaders and fundamentalist churches began in Brazil in the late 1970s, with the translation of anti-gay literature, the welcoming of associations "supporting ex-gays" (who, according to them, had managed to "cure" themselves of homosexuality through prayer) and, in recent years, by supporting lobbies denouncing the granting of full citizenship to LGTB communities. However, alongside this unconstitutional fundamentalist intolerance, in some Brazilian capitals, nearly a dozen churches dedicated to the homosexual community, with "friendly" or openly gay pastors, have also been founded.
The human rights situation in Brazil remains fragile
Since 1988, human rights have been guaranteed by the country's constitution. In theory, they include gender equality, the eradication of poverty, marginalization and social inequality, the promotion of the good of all, without prejudice as to origin, race, sex, age or color, racism as an imprescriptible crime, the right of access to health, welfare, education, culture and sport, the recognition of children and adolescents as developing people, the establishment of a national human rights policy, and the promotion of a culture of peace, culture and sport, the recognition of children and adolescents as people in development, the implementation of policies to protect the elderly, the disabled and various family groups, and collegiate councils for the preservation of indigenous culture.
In a country born into the abominable matrix of slavery and with a history marked by recurrent authoritarian regimes, the recognition of human rights appears to be a major achievement. However, the weaknesses and dysfunctions of the Brazilian administration make it difficult to ensure that human rights are respected. The crime clearance rate is very low, making it impossible to combat the perpetrators of homicides. Indeed, despite the return of democracy, violence has increased considerably since the 1990s. Over 50,000 people are victims of homicide every year, the vast majority of them young Afro-Brazilians. The police are often incriminated for excessive use of violence, and the justice system seems reluctant to track down violence committed by security forces and large landowners.
The authorities have not adopted any measures to reduce the homicide rate, the main victims of which are young black men. The use of military forces to maintain order or carry out "anti-drug operations" in the favelas also accounts for the high number of victims. Prisoners' basic rights are trampled underfoot. The Brazilian penitentiary system is still marked by overcrowding and inhumane, degrading conditions of detention. Worse still, almost half of all prisoners are held on remand.
The rights of indigenous peoples are frequently violated, as are those of small landowners and peasants belonging to the "Landless Movement" (MST). Their respective territories and lands are violated, looted, and their inhabitants raped and even murdered. Violence against LGBT people is also commonplace. Several hundred LGBT people are murdered in Brazil every year. Lastly, terreiros (Afro-Brazilian places of worship) are regularly the victims of threats, intimidation or violent attacks by extreme right-wing groups. More generally, trade unionists, particularly rural trade unionists, independent journalists, and human rights and environmental defenders pay a heavy annual price for safeguarding democracy. according to RSF, 42 journalists were murdered between 2003 and 2023. Many conservationists, such as the activist and trade unionist Chico Mendes in 1988 or the English journalist Dom Philips and his Brazilian friend Bruno Pereira, have been murdered over the last two decades. Things should improve with a government more concerned with the rule of law.
Sex tourism still too present
Brazil is one of the countries most affected by sex tourism. In this sad ranking, Brazil comes just after Thailand. In the 1970s, EMBRATUR, Brazil's national tourism agency, touted Brazil as a land of beaches, samba... and women. This was to forge a worldwide image of a country where commercial sex is "easy" and without much risk from the authorities. The Nordeste region, poor and touristy, is a stronghold of sex tourism in Brazil. Europeans, but also Brazilians from the major cities of the Sudeste and the South, come to Recife, Salvador, Natal or Fortaleza to barter caresses for hard cash. As in Thailand, this sex tourism often involves minors. While prostitution is authorized in Brazil, the sexual exploitation of minors and children is a crime punishable by law. The children and teenagers who end up in this destructive circuit often already come from broken, violent families, or are victims of drugs, like street children. Some have been lured by promises of a better life from dream sellers who form a mafia-like network of cab drivers, bar and nightclub owners, hotel employees and pimps. In Brazil, as elsewhere, prostitution of minors is never a choice. It remains an unacceptable form of violence, qualified as a crime by the Brazilian justice system and judged as such.
