A/HRC/31/56/Add.1
equal investment in community-run initiatives, as well as other social programmes designed
and developed with the participation of community members.
D.
Afro-Brazilian women
59.
Afro-Brazilian women are often in exacerbated situations of marginalization and
disadvantage. A recent study revealed that Afro-Brazilians women and girls are more likely
to be victims of violence: in 2013, 66.7 per cent more Afro-Brazilian women were killed
than white women and girls.11 Afro-Brazilian women are also overrepresented in lowskilled jobs, such as domestic work, and there are few Afro-Brazilian women in positions
of power. In addition, Afro-Brazilian women are highly overrepresented in prison
populations, compared with their white counterparts. In connection with the “war on
drugs”, between 2005 and 2013, the number of women imprisoned for drug-related crimes
grew 290 per cent,12 with the impact on Afro-Brazilian women considerable. The large
numbers of Afro-Brazilians male homicides have a significant impact on Afro-Brazilian
women, as the mothers, wives and sisters of these slain youths, and who are not provided
with any psychosocial support or redress.
60.
Afro-Brazilian women and girls are particularly vulnerable to violence, including
sexual violence and domestic violence, in particular in marginalized communities such as
favelas and periferias. Indeed, in periferia Brasilandia, girls as young as 10 and 11 told the
Special Rapporteur that they were forbidden from leaving their houses after school for fear
of being raped, a regular occurrence in the neighbourhood. In these communities, as well as
elsewhere, the school dropout rate for Afro-Brazilian girls is high, as they are often
obligated to take up household duties, including the care of younger siblings. Similarly,
teenage pregnancy rates remain high, particularly in poorer areas. The maternal mortality
rates for Afro-Brazilian women remain comparatively high (see A/HRC/27/68/Add.1, para.
86).
VI. The rights of Quilombo and other traditional communities
61.
Quilombos and traditional communities find themselves amongst the most socially
and economically excluded peoples, even in relation to other Afro-Brazilian communities.
These communities not only suffer the severe problems of racism, structural discrimination,
and violence, but also face additional discrimination as poor, peripheral and often rural
communities. This vulnerability has severely impeded their ability to make effective rights
claims regarding their lands and resources.
A.
Demarcation of Quilombo lands
62.
Although constitutional recognition was an important symbolic step towards
recognizing the rights of Quilombos, almost 20 years later, the pledge remains largely
unfulfilled. To date, only 189 deeds have been issued, corresponding to 0.1 per cent of the
national territory. While there are currently 1,516 open processes for demarcation, it is
estimated that more than 3,000 Quilombos exist throughout Brazil. Moreover, the
cumbersome and somewhat technical procedures mean that, even for those recognized
communities, demarcation regularly takes up to six years. Even when a positive decision is
11
12
See www.mapadaviolencia.org.br/pdf2015/MapaViolencia_2015_mulheres.pdf.
Ministerio de Justicia, INFOPEN 2014, available from: www.justica.gov.br/noticias/mj-divulgaranovo-relatorio-do-infopen-nesta-terca-feira/relatorio-depen-versao-web.pdf.
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