Speech by the President of the Republic, Michel Temer, during the launch ceremony of the National Plan to Combat Domestic Violence against Women

I want to salute Marcela first, on behalf of whom I salute all my friends, and the women in attendance.

Gustavo Rocha,

Ronaldo Fonseca,

Carlos  Sobral,

General Valério Trindade,

Deputy Soraya Santos,

Our governor Ibaneis Rocha and his wife Mayara.

In fact, Ibaneis, I want to thank you very much for the kindness you have shown to the federal government. Governor Ibanez has attended numerous acts we have held here in the Planalto Palace and outside the Planalto Palace, revealing an extraordinary natural integration between the Federal District and the federal government.

I also want to salute Andreza Colatto, the National Secretary for Women's Policies,

Ms. Maria da Penha,

The fellow female parliamentarians, all of them,

Deputies,

and all the authorities in attendance.

And I want to say that, just this week, the world has united around the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In fact, we are not celebrating International Women's Day, we are celebrating the International Day to Combat Violence against Women. Nothing more appropriate for this date, then, than announcing concrete measures in favour of women. And, of course, as you have come to realise, this is what we are doing today, once again officially launching the National Plan to Combat Domestic Violence and instituting the National System of Policies for Women.

I will not even praise Gustavo Rocha, because Gustavo has already been highly praised in the speeches that have already taken place, but the work he has done has been so significant that I'm going to ask for another round of applause for him.

And these initiatives, of course, point in the same direction: that of a comprehensive policy, which at the same time brings strict punishment to aggressors and effective prevention against violence. A policy, of course, that encourages coordination between the federal government, states and municipalities, between Executive, Legislative and Judiciary, and between government and society. This is a task that is incumbent upon all, without exception, because this is a policy that naturally promotes women's rights, their professional training, and their rise in the labour market, which ultimately promotes the valuation of their citizenship and dignity. In fact, Soraya was very fortunate to recall the constitutional text, which, unlike previous ones, no longer generically states that all are equal before the law. Rather, it says: “women”... "men and women are equal in rights and duties", thus bringing to the fore the potential of women in recent times. Women, who only began voting in 1932, gradually achieved an expressive and significant insertion in Brazilian society on their own. We must agree that, many times, there may have been resistance, but that resistance was overcome little by little, and, once it was overcome, we arrived at this constitutional provision.

And we all know that this challenge is not easy. After all, violence against women knows no social stratum, knows no age and knows no region of the country. Sometimes people think that [it occurs] only among the poorest. That is not the case; statistics abundantly reveal that it occurs in all social strata. Often, violence against women, as was said here, happens on the streets, at work, in school, but especially at home, precisely where women should feel, like Ms. Maria da Penha said, the most protected. And the challenge is not easy, but overcoming it is urgent. And if you allow me a personal note, I want to say that facing this scourge is not only a commitment I assumed in this administration, but a commitment that I assumed in all my public life. It was this commitment that led me to create – and I am extremely proud of this fact – to create the first women's police station in Brazil in 1985. I remember that this was a story that made the New York Times, I remember. That's why I'm proud to say that.

It is interesting, dear deputies, senators and ministers, to see how governing sometimes involves some trivialities. Do you know how it came about that I created the first women's police station? It was a group of women who came from a city in the São Paulo metropolitan area. They came to me to say: “Look, Mr. Secretary, we are very poorly served in police stations", because they were served by a male clerk, a male investigator, a male chief of police. Evidently it was not about the person x, y, z who was the clerk, or chief of police, or investigator. It was the fact that it was a man providing services to a woman, and when I was told this, it is interesting... [I thought] “Why not create a police station with two female chiefs of police, 10 female clerks, 15, 20 female investigators?” So I took the decree to governor Montoro. At the time, he was enthusiastic about the idea, and we created the first women's police station. It cost nothing, no budgeting change, but it was extraordinarily successful. So much so that, years later, when I became Secretary of Public Security, there were more than 90 women's police stations in the state of São Paulo, and many more throughout the country.

You see, many times, simple ideas... But this was revealing, precisely, of the importance of women in the social fabric. If it was not for this importance, of course, this police station would not have been as successful as it was. As was also the commitment that inspired, we must admit, the National Public Security Plan, launched last year, whose first pillar is precisely the fight against feminicide and violence against women.

And Soraya remembered that, when I was mayor, on one of my tenures, I created the first woman's parliamentary prosecutor's office, in addition to having put a woman on the council of leaders to have voice and vote. So it's a job we've been doing over time.

And, of course, it was this commitment that motivated the strengthening of the 180 hotline, which naturally integrated police authorities directly, ensuring even more fluid communication with prosecutors. The results have been expressive. Only last year, I highlight, more than 30 thousand complaints – you tell me – more than 30 thousand complaints were forwarded to the Prosecution Service through this channel.

We recognise that we have done a lot, but much remains to be done. And to do more we must enshrine certain gestures with solemnities, so that we can mark this moment, as we assemble our fellow members of government and civil society, and as we gather here in the Palace, this solemnity will have repercussions, because certainly and surely, Brazilian and international press organisations will report this fact, and, therefore, the publicity of this fact is also an instance in which once again we highlight, stress and exalt the need to combat violence against women.

Congratulations to the Ministry of Human Rights, congratulations to the colleagues of the women's caucus, which I of course extend to all deputies – because, of course, when a law is passed, it is not only by the 77 [female deputies], 77 today, 51 before, but men have also collaborated to this.

So what I propose, as my final words, is for men and women to unite to combat violence against women.