| Silvia
Pimentel
Silvia Pimentel,
PhD, is a Brazilian Professor of Legal Philosophy at the Catholic
University of Sao Paulo (PUC/SP), who has become a major figure
in the process of recognition of women’s rights, particularly
in Brazil and Latin America.
In the 1970s
– prior to the general acceptance of women's rights –
Prof. Pimentel helped pioneer the use of the media as well as legal
theory to raise public attention to discrimination against women.
This effort
gave her a substantial media profile and she subsequently became
an important female leader in the movement “Diretas Já”,
which united millions in the fight for the restitution of the Brazilian
democracy. During the redemocratization process, she obtained over
30 000 votes in a congressional campaign. Even though she did not
obtain a seat in the Parliament, she kept working for changes in
the Brazilian legislation and ultimately played a pivotal role in
the Constitution drafting process. Her efforts contributed to over
80% of the women's movement proposals being incorporated in the
1988 Federal Constitution.
International
recognition of Prof. Pimentel's activism is demonstrated by her
representation of feminist organizations at, inter alia, the Conferences
of Copenhagen, Nairobi and Beijing. Fluency in Spanish, English
and French has allowed her to strengthen links with scholars and
activists throughout the globe. In 1985, she was one of the founders
of the International Women’s Rights Watch and, in 1987, Prof.
Pimentel and other prominent feminists founded the Latin American
and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights
(CLADEM), a milestone for the women’s movement in the region.
In the academic
sphere, Prof. Pimentel has been teaching Philosophy of the Law at
the Catholic University of Sao Paulo (PUC/SP) since 1972 and has
written several articles and books. Among other relevant University
positions, she was the General Director of the Center for Legal,
Economic and Administrative Sciences of PUC/SP between 1978 and
1984.
In more recent
times, she developed important projects such as the coordination
of the drafting process of the First Brazilian National Report to
the CEDAW Committee. She also convened 13 networks of women’s
NGOs that drafted a document of the Brazilian Women’s Movement
to the CEDAW Committee.
Prof. Pimentel
continues her fight for women’s rights in Brazil and is currently
a member of the Consultative Board of CLADEM, coordinator of its
Brazilian section, president of the Institute for the Advancement
of Equity (IPE), member of the director council of the Commission
on Citizenship and Reproduction (CCR), consultant of the Foundation
for the Support to the Research of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP)
and the McArthur Foundation. She also takes part of the Advisory
Council of the non governmental organizations CFEMEA and ADVOCACI.
For all her work in the past and in the present, Prof. Pimentel
stands as a historical Brazilian figure in the strive seeking the
end gender discrimination.
Academic
titles
Ph. D., Legal
Philosophy, Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC/SP) –
1977
Master
in Psychology of Education, PUC/SP – 1973
Law
Degree, PUC/SP - 1970
(a)
University Positions
- Professor
of Legal Philosophy at PUC/SP, from 1972 to the present
- Consultant
of the Foundation for the Support to the Research of the State
of São Paulo (FAPESP)
- Chief of
Cabinet of the Presidency of PUC/SP, 1976 - 1978
- Director
of the Department on General Theory of Law, Law School, PUC/SP,
1976 - 1978
- General Director
of the Center for Legal, Economic and Administrative Sciences
of PUC/SP, 1978 - 1984
Political
and governmental positions
- Director
of the Department for Planning and Control of the Secretariat
of Education of the State of Sao Paulo – from 1983 to 1987
- Candidate
for the National Congress, Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement
(PMDB), supported by the women's movement of the Party –
1982
- Founding
member of the Sao Paulo Women's Council, a consultative body for
the Government of the State of Sao Paulo - 1985
- Brazilian
women’s movement representative in the campaign Diretas
Já, which aimed for direct elections for President of the
Republic
Non
governmental positions
International
level
- Member of
the Honorary Consulting Council of Latin American and Caribbean
Committee for the Defence of Women’s Rights (CLADEM), 2003
– present
- Founding
Member of CLADEM, 1987
- Founding
Member of International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW),
1985
National
level
- Coordinator
of the Brazilian section of CLADEM, 1992 - present
- President
of the Institute for the Advancement of Equity (IPE) 2003 - present;
member of its Director Council, 1995-2003
- Member of
the Advisory Council of Advocacy in Citizenship and Human Rights
(ADVOCACI), 2001 - present
- Member of
the Director Council of Commission of Citizenship and Reproduction
(CCR)
- Member of
the Advisory Council of Feminist Centre of Studies and Consulting
Services (CFEMEA)
- Mentor of
John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation
Selected
advocacy experiences
- Contribution
to the draft legislation on domestic violence against women, 2002
– 2003
Author of proposal modifications to the Brazilian Penal Code,
currently under examination of the Brazilian National Congress,
2002
- Legal consultant
to Marta Suplicy (then Member of the Federal Parliament and current
Mayor of the City of São Paulo) on draft legislation for
sexual harassment in teaching and labor relationships, civil unions
and domestic violence, 1995 – 1996
- Author of
The New Civil Statute of Women, a proposal for changing the Brazilian
Civil Code according to gender equality. This proposal was presented
in 1981 to the National Congress, it was incorporated in many
bills and it was eventually included in the reform of the Brazilian
Civil Code in the year 2002
- Participation
in the drafting process of the Brazilian Constitution, as one
of the six women who wrote the historical “Women’s
Letter to the Constituents” in August of 1986. This letter
was the result of a large national debate on women’s rights
throughout the country.
Selected
recent international monitoring experiences on women’s human
rights
- Co-ordination
of the drafting process of the first Brazilian National Report
for the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of the Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW Committee) related to the years 1985, 1989,
1993, 1997 and 2001
- Co-ordination
of 13 networks of women’s NGOs in the drafting process of
the Women’s Movement Alternative Report Document of Women’s
to the CEDAW Committee – 2002 -2003
- Draft and
public presentation of the gender part of the Alternative Report
of the Brazilian Civil Society to the United Nations Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – 2003
- Joint meeting
with the Special Rappourteur of the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences,
Radhika Comaraswammy, and the Special Rappourteurs of Women’s
Human Rights of the African Commission on Human and People’s
Rights and of the Inter American Commission of Human Rights
Selected
International Conferences and Forums
- Member of
the International Planning Committee for the 9º International
AWID Forum – Reinventing the Globalisation (AWID - Association
for Women’s Rights in Development), 2001-2002
- II and III
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Workshops of CLADEM on the Campaign for an
Inter American Convention on Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights
and on Violence Against Women, Porto Alegre, Brazil, Feb/ 2002
and Jan/2003
- IWRAW Public
Consultation: “The CEDAW Convention and the Beijing Platform
for Action: reinforcing the promise of the rights framework”,
sponsored by the Ford Foundation, New York, 22-23 January, 2000
- 88ª
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ILO, GENEVA, which discussed the review
of the ILO Convention 103 related to the maternity social protection,
2000
- MEETING OF
EXPERTS OF THE “MERCOSUR” SUBREGION, BOLIVIA AND CHILE
– VIOLENCE IN THE AMERICAS – A regional analysis including
a review of the implementation of the Inter-American Convention
for the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against
Women – Montevideo, December, 2000
- Joint meeting
with the Special Rappourteur of the United Nations Commission
on Human Rigths on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences,
Radhika Comaraswammy, and the Special Rappourteurs of Women’s
Human Rigths of the African Commission on Human Rigths and People
and of the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights
- 54ª
Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 1998,
Geneva
- United Nations
Human Rights World Conference, 1993, Vienna, and respective preparatory
meeting at local and regional level
United Nations International Conferences on Women of Copenhagen,
Nairobi, Beijing, held in the years 1985, 1990 and 1995, as well
as their respective Preparatory Meetings on local and regional
levels
(b) Selected recent researches
- “Diagnosis
on the situation of sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America,
Brazilian Report”, CLADEM, 2000-2001
- a) “The
juridical protection of adolescents accused of committing crimes",
Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC/SP) and Ministry
of Justice of Brazil, 1998-1999
- Artigo II.
“Rape: crime or ‘courtesy’? A legal and social-juridical
approach of gender”, IPÊ and CLADEM-Brazil, sponsored
by the Ford Foundation and FAPESP, 1996-1997
- Artigo III.
“Perception of women related to the Law and Justice”,
THEMIS and CLADEM-Brazil, sponsored by the Ford Foundation, 1994-1995
Artigo IV.
Artigo V. "The woman figure/character in familiar law-suit".
Responsible entities: Catholic University of São Paulo
(PUC/SP)
Selected books and articles
- Woman and
the Constituent – A contribution to the debate, Educ-Cortez,
2ª edition, São Paulo, 1987
- Evolution
of women’s rights. Fact, value, norm, Ed. RT, São
Paulo, 1978.
- Laws and
policies on abortion – challenge and opportunities, Rebecca
Cook, Dag Graf Editorial, SP, 1991
- “Legitimate
of the honor defense”, Silvia Pimentel and Valéria
Pandjiarjian, in Reproduction and Sexuality – An issue of
Justice, organized by Samantha Buglione, THEMIS and SafE, Porto
Alegre, 2002
- “Worker
Women, globalization and human rights”, in co-authorship
with Valéria Pandjiarjian, in Human Rights, Economic Globalization
and Regional Integration – Challenges of the International
Constitutional Law, Flávia Piovesan (org), Max Limonad,
São Paulo, 2002, pages. 713-727
- "Brazilian
Penal Code, needs for change and a proposal", in Women: Watched
and Punished, English, Spanish and Portuguese version, CLADEM,
Lima, Peru, 1993
- "Discrimination
and violence in the civil area" and "Violence and discrimination
in criminal area", in Thinking of our citizenship –
proposal for a non-discriminatory legislation, CFEMEA, Brasília,
DF, 1993
- "Special
challenges confronting Latin America Women", in Ours by Right
- Women’s Rights as Human Rights, The North-South Institute,
Ottawa, Canada, 1992
- "Brazilian
Catholic Universities and their responsibility towards human rights",
in Culture chretienne et droits de l´homme. Federation Internationale
des Universities Catholiques, Academia Louvain-La Neuye, Bruylant,
Bruxelles, 1991
Languages
Portuguese,
French, Spanish and English. Italian (reading).
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