Latin America in the News (January 31, 2020)
Brazil’s far-right government has implemented a new program in an effort to combat the country’s high pregnancy rate and H.I.V. infections: abstinence. Damares Alves, the minister of human rights and family and women, is behind the new policy change. The new policy is a collaboration between Ms. Alves and a group of evangelical pastors. This change has sparked heated debates about reproductive rights and sex education in Brazil. The government’s new stance on abstinence closes the gap between church and state. It also leaves teen less informed, which could led to them making poor decisions about sex.
Sex and sexuality was a huge theme in the recent presidential campaign. President Jair Bolsonaro has accused his leftist opponents of trying to encourage teens to have sex and promoting homosexuality. Evangelical voters are among the presidents strongest supports. The country’s teenage pregnancy rate has always been high, and is now around 62 per 1,000 births. But it used to be much higher, and the government’s new abstinence program could undermine this progress. Furthermore, H.I.V. is also spreading at an alarming rate in the country. The new policy would not have much effect in stopping its spread. The new abstinence policy might resonate with evangelical teens, but will most likely be ignored by most. Ms. Alves says the new policy will work with, not replace, existing ones. In defense of the program she sited similar campaigns in the United States, that she said had been effective. Her claim about the effectiveness of these programs is largely untrue, occurring to studies. At the same time sex education and reproductive rights are being restricted in Brazil. The government has pushed to ban access to sites that provide information about reproductive health and abortion. The restriction of this information could be harmful.
The article portrays two extremes in the country’s debate over sex and sexuality. The high rate of teen pregnancy is contrasted with the more conservative evangelical stance of abstinence. While teen births rate are high in Brazil, showing the middle ground would have produced a more well rounded picture of the country. This might have curbed the article’s tendency of portraying Brazil as an incredibly polar society. This could have been done by addressing policies that are already in place, and policies that the public would like to see be implemented.
The clear connection that connections the article back to the themes of class is the separation of church and state, or lack of separation. The Catholic church and evangelical Christians have been a large part of Latin American history. Similar to other Latin American countries the catholic church is deeply embedded in Brazil’s culture and institutions. Since the Portuguese colonization and with that the arrival of the Church, Catholicism has remained dominant in the region. Even with the countries attempts secularization, the catholic church continues to play an important role in the lives of Brazilians. The debate now regarding sex education and reproductive health has sparked recent concern over the separation between church and state. The emphasis on sex and sexuality in the recent presidential campaign means that this is a deeply important issue in the country. It is likely that there will be continuing debates on the subject, especially when the health on safety of million in the country will be affected.
Bibliography
Londoño, Ernesto, and Letícia Casado. “Brazil Under Bolsonaro Has Message for Teenagers: Save Sex for Marriage.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/world/americas/brazil-teen-pregnancy-Bolsonaro.html.
“The Catholic Church in Brazil.” Religious Literacy Project, rlp.hds.harvard.edu/faq/catholic-church-brazil.
Additional articles
Ms. Alves’s essay on her recent abstinence policy:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/opiniao/2020/01/abstinencia-ou-autonomia.shtml
New York Times article on gay marriage in Brazil:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/29/world/americas/brazil-bolsonaro-gay-marriage.html