In addition to the glitter, drums and choreography, the fight against harassment and sexual harassment against women sets the tone for the warm-up of the Belo Horizonte Carnival this Sunday (21/1). Around 40 members of the “Funk You” bloc participated this afternoon in training to welcome victims of sexual violence during parades.
Called “Fale Agora”, the initiative, promoted by the State Secretariat for Social Development of Minas Gerais (Sedese-MG), presents indications on the role of each person in acting against crimes of sexual violence. “Sometimes we don’t know how to behave in certain situations. Even though this is an increasingly discussed topic, there is still a lack of information on what should be done,” said Mariana Cardoso, one of the coordinators of the “Funk You” block.
In an attempt to minimize problems of this type, requests to have fun conscientiously, without harassing the “girls” and without quarrels, are announced by those who liven up the party on the “Funk You” sound car. “Let’s bring this topic into discussion, raising awareness among people. We talk to people from the beginning of the trials open to the public”, said she, who coordinates the group together with the lawyer Fabiana Veloso.
A street carnival figure for nearly nine years, the “Funk You” coordinator sees progress in terms of safety and observes a significant improvement during parades. “Today, even if there are still some situations, I feel free to go out alone at Carnival. It’s no longer like before, where they passed their hands to each other, they felt they had the right to take it, to touch it. It is clear that there is a lot to improve, there is a lot to talk about, but it is very clear how it has improved with these campaigns,” he underlines.
Legislation has also made progress and, since 2019, the crime of sexual harassment carries a prison sentence of between one and five years. Mariana highlights the importance of anti-harassment campaigns given the growth of the Belo Horizonte revelry. “Especially those who have never participated in the carnival are even more afraid. We have already experienced unpleasant situations,” she says. Sedese-MG’s proposal is to prepare around 500 people to participate in the party with the diffusion of the protocol.
Despite the redoubled efforts to spread the project during the holiday period, “Fale Agora” is a permanent discussion initiative. Bars, restaurants, hotels, shopping centers and event spaces can join the project for free and receive the Fale Agora Protocol Seal. The initiative is based on the Spanish project “No Callamos” – “No Calamos”, in Portuguese -, adopted by the municipality of Barcelona and adapted to the Brazilian reality.
BH block map
Find out the date, location and time of the 2024 BH Carnival Roadblock Parade on this interactive map updated daily. Download the BH Carnival block map to follow the hundreds of free parades through the streets of the capital of Minas Gerais.
2024-01-22 00:30:00
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