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Jornadas Brasileiras pelo Direito ao Aborto Legal e Seguro (Brazilian Initiative for the Right to a Safe and Legal Abortion) is a coalition of 17 networks, 49 organizations, and eight advocates whose aim is to coordinate the actions of feminist movements and organized sectors of civil society and to influence a proactive agenda in favor of reproductive rights for Brazilian society.
In
2004, with the support of IWHC, Brazilian organizations created Jornadas in replacement of BIRLSA.
Projects
- Internal Communication Project – Lista Artemísia: Raising awareness and discussing key political issues. This is a sphere for solidarity, with intense information-sharing, either in emergency situations (involving barriers to legal abortion and emergency contraception, etc.) or publicizing coordinated solutions and actions, public rallies, events, etc.
- Political Lobbying Project – The Reality Of Unsafe Abortion: The Impact Of The Illegality Of Abortion On Women’s Health And Health Services. The idea is to promote, through the media, reflection among parliamentarians, the women’s movement, and society in general on issues involving the status of unsafe abortion in five states: Pernambuco, Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, and Rio de Janeiro. This is part of a series of strategies coordinated through groups that belong to Jornadas. These actions have been generating discussion and commitment among authorities in both the legislative and executive branches.
Impact
- Case in Alagoinha, Pernambuco – March 2009: The case of a 9-year old girl from Alagoinha, who had been raped since age 6 and was pregnant by her stepfather, was emblematic in exposing the threats that Brazilian women face, primarily poor, black, and indigenous women. The radical move by the Catholic Archbishop of Pernambuco, who excommunicated health professionals, feminists, and the girl’s mother, touched people not only in Brazil, but in many other countries. A campaign launched by Jornadas and promoted by the Comissão de Cidadania e Reprodução [Commission for Citizenship and Reproduction] (CCR) to support the women’s movement and professionals at the Amaury de Medeiros Integrated Health Center (CISAM), where the girl was treated, collected 10,860 signatures from around the world. The work of the member organizations of Jornadas and the Pernambuco Women’s Forum was very responsive and steadfast, particularly that of IWHC partners Grupo Curumim and SOS Corpo. The response and guidance given were fundamental in enabling the family to legally end the pregnancy, as was the commitment of the CISAM health professionals who have been working to implement the Ministry of Health’s Technical Standards.
- Case in Mato Grosso do Sul:
On April 13, 2007, the police in Mato Grosso do Sul, a state in the center-west region of Brazil, raided a family planning clinic and confiscated the medical records of nearly 10,000 women. The raid followed a widely reported news story accusing the clinic of performing abortion procedures. The investigation by the police in Mato Grosso do Sul following the clinic raid was marked by irregularities that violated both Brazilian law and international human rights standards. Jornadas’s member organizations released a report at the National Human Rights Conference, in December 2008, listing the main human rights violations and delivered it to the Minister of Human Rights and the Minister of Women’s Policy, calling for measures for reparations, monitoring and accountability by the federal government.
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