The biggest difference between Brazil and the
United States in
my point of view is how people deal with violence against women
in both
countries. I like the way women are treated and valued as a human
being
here in the United States. In Brazil, as in many places in the
world,
the domestic violence is a big problem and very common.
When I decided to write about this topic I did not base it on
any
research or survey a newspaper or magazine but only in the way
I
struggled with this when I was growing up in the city where I
came from.
Among other kinds of violence, domestic violence was just another
one
and this made people look at violence against women as kind of
a natural
thing and part of our lives. In fact, it was hard for me to see
how
women in my neighborhood were being treated. Violence against
women was
present in every single family in lower or in higher degree.
For years I saw many women being spanked, verbally abused, raped,
sexually abused, forced to get married, killed, trafficked by
their
fathers, brother, husbands, boyfriends, neighbors and male relatives
and
unknown males. Overall, the justice system was unable to protect,
prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish all forms of violence
against
women. In many cases, calling to police for help was not a good
thing,
some women had to continue co-habitating with the perpetrators
of this
violence, making harder their lives once the aggressor just became
more
furious.
I feel protected and secure in the United States. I just worry
about
the females in my family when I look back home.
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