Campaign: "For the Equality of the Black Woman in the Job Market"

In the spring of 2010, the Public Minister of (the state of) Rio Grande do Sul (MPT-RS) initiated a campaign entitled “For the Equality of the Black Woman in the Job Market.” The two ads above in the blue backgrounds were turned into huge outdoor billboards and posted in locations of great visibility in the capital city of Porto Alegre in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Márcia Medeiros de Farias of the Núcleo de Proteção à Dignidade do Trabalhador (Protection Nucleus for the Dignity of the Worker), the creator of the campaign, commented that “you may not realize it, but the prejudice against black women is more present in our lives than you imagine.” In the history of Brazil, since the end of slavery in 1888, black women have always been the least valued worker. According to statistics in 2010, black Brazilian women earned 66% less than white Brazilian men and 45% less than white Brazilian women, only 0.3% of black women are employed in positions of management (translations of ads) and 4 of every 10 black women are unemployed.