🪜 Cracking, but not breaking, the glass ceiling

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Without policy results, women sour on Lula

The world celebrated International Women’s Day on Mar. 8, allowing us to assess the progress — or lack thereof — made in addressing Brazil’s persistent gender inequalities.

The administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has taken steps to promote gender equity, including a new committee led by Women’s Minister Aparecida Gonçalves to oversee the implementation of gender policies across cabinet ministries. Yet, despite increased funding compared to his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, tangible advancements remain modest.

Lula’s approval rating among female voters — who played a pivotal role in securing his 2022 election victory — has plummeted. According to Datafolha, his approval among women dropped from 38% in December 2024 to 24% in February, a staggering 14-point decline. 

Economic pressures, particularly food inflation, likely contributed to this slump, but analysts also point to the influence of Lula’s off-the-cuff misogynistic remarks. The recent dismissal of a female health minister has further undermined his standing among women. Ministries led by women will control a combined budget 61 times smaller than those controlled by men, according to the government’s proposed 2025 budget.

Policy landscape

Since being elected in 2022, one of Lula’s signature initiatives has been the Equal Pay Law of 2023, which allows female employees to verify whether they are earning less than male colleagues for the same work. 

While the law provides legal recourse against pay discrimination, enforcement remains stalled due to judicial challenges. Employers’ confederations are pushing to overturn the law in the Supreme Court, and the Labor Ministry has yet to impose penalties for noncompliance. As a result, wage disparities persist: as of September 2024, women in Brazil earned just 79.3% of what men in equivalent roles made — a gap that widened rather than narrowed in the six months prior.

Violence against women remains a critical issue, though Lula’s administration has significantly increased funding for support services. The number of Brazilian Women’s Houses — centers offering legal aid, psychosocial support, and shelter for abuse survivors — is set to expand from 10 to 27 nationwide.

Yet femicide rates remain deeply troubling. In 2024, there were 1,128 recorded cases, a 5.1% decline from 2023, which itself saw a modest decrease from the previous year. Despite this progress, femicide rates have spiked in several states, including Roraima (up 50%), Piauí (444%), and Maranhão (38%). Public perception of gender-based violence remains grim. A survey by the Patrícia Galvão Institute found that 90% of women perceive femicide as a growing concern over the past five years.

Brazil recorded at least 78,395 rapes in 2024 — an average of nine per hour. While some regions saw declines, others, including Paraíba, Amazonas, Amapá and Tocantins, reported rising cases. Experts caution that increases in reported incidents may reflect both a real surge in violence and a greater willingness among victims to come forward.

Brazil’s global standing

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, Brazil ranks 70th out of 146 countries, with an overall gender parity score of 71.6% — one point less than in 2023, and a drop of 13 places in the global ranking.

Economic gender parity declined slightly, with the wage gap widening from 67.0% to 66.7%. However, Brazil reached an all-time high in female representation in senior leadership roles (66.1%), and labor force participation saw a minor uptick to 72.6%. Still, that figure remains well below the country’s 2021 peak of 77.2%.

On the political front, female representation has slipped. Brazil’s score for Political Empowerment fell from 26.3% in 2023 to 22% in 2024, aligning with the global average. This decline is mainly attributed to fewer women in cabinet positions. However, Brazil remains buoyed in the rankings by the legacy of former President Dilma Rousseff, whose tenure contributes to the country’s relatively strong placement (34th globally) in the head-of-state category.

Despite some policy advances, the numbers underscore a stark reality: Brazil still has a long way to go in closing the gender gap.

Quick catch-up

🍽️ The Lula administration has committed to removing Brazil from the United Nations’ Hunger Map by 2026. The initiative faces significant challenges, including soaring food prices and persistent hunger in vulnerable regions. The plan also considers the growing impact of climate change on food security.

📊 A fresh study by Ipsos across 30 countries found that 41% of Brazilians believe men are likelier to earn a high income, while only 5% say the same for women. Globally, opinion is more divided, with 46% believing that men and women have equal earning potential.

🧮 The federal government is set to launch a program of goals and incentives for city halls to boost math scores among Brazilian students. In PISA 2022, 73% performed poorly in the subject, showing little progress since 2018.

🏠 After “I'm Still Here” won the Oscar for Best International Feature, Mayor Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro issued a decree to expropriate the house that served as its primary location. The administration plans to convert the property into the House of Brazilian Cinema, a cultural hub dedicated to the nation’s film industry.