She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.
She says: “One way to find peace is to understand that it is not natural for women to be in second place”.
Schuma Schumaher – Brazil.
She works for Rede de Desenvolvimento Humano (REDEH). REDEH foi fundada em 1990.
Sua missão é fortalecer conceitos e práticas que estimulem a eqüidade de gênero, raça e etnia em políticas públicas desenvolvidas nas áreas de saúde, educação, cultura e meio ambiente. Para o cumprimento desta missão, desenvolve quatro programas – Desenvolvimento Sustentável; Educação; Saúde; Pesquisa e Documentação – através de ações de capacitação, pesquisa, produção de materiais didáticos e articulação em rede. Atua nos níveis municipal, estadual e federal. (See more on REDEH).
Schuma Schumaher (born 1952) found feminism in the late 1970s, and it was like she had found the answers to the questions she had since her childhood. She lived in a small rural city in the state of São Paulo named Santa Fé do Sul, dedicated to the cultivation of coffee and cotton. Even though she worked in plantations since she was six years old, her biggest dream was to study.Schuma Schumaher (1952) found feminism in the late 70’s, and it was as if she had found the answers to the questions she had since her childhood. She lived in a small rural city in the state of São Paulo named Santa Fé do Sul, dedicated to the cultivation of coffee and cotton. Even though she worked in plantations since she was six years old, her biggest dream was to study.
With education and culture Schuma Schumaher, who already had a degree in Pedagogy, was able to comprehend the ways of feminist militancy, which started in São Paulo city in the 70’s. During this period, she was part of the foundation of the Brazilian Women’s Center and also of the first SOS Woman in Brazil, which helped women victims of violence. This group’s effort was the first step in the creation of Police Precincts Specialized in Aiding Women Victims of Violence.
After that, she went on to work in the National Council of Woman’s Rights, created by Brazil’s first civil president after 20 years of military dictatorship. Schuma moved to Brasilia, the national capital, and her involvement with politics became more intense. In 1987, she was working actively in what was known as the “Lipstick Lobby”, a women’s movement that fought for the inclusion of female rights in the new Brazilian Constitution. Internationally, she attended two important UN conferences in the 90’s: ECO-92 (Rio de Janeiro), where she was directing Redeh’s participation in the Female Planet, and the Women’s World Conference (1995, Beijing).
Her passion for movies and her work in the cultural scenario led her to Rio de Janeiro, where she moved to in 1988. In 1991, she started working at Redeh, a non-governmental organization coordinated by her. She developed the project named Woman – 500 years behind the curtains, an extensive research on women’s contribution to Brazilian history. With this project, a dictionary with the names of 500 women was produced, and another one is being prepared, this time with 1000 names.
Schuma believes that peace depends on the capacity of each person to live in society in a less violent manner. Ergo, feminism is a way of affirming women’s rights, anti-racist and anti-homophobic.
The battle on violence against women happens in Brazil through the actions of the Ministry of Justice, and also of the Police Precincts Specialized in Aiding Women Victims of Violence. There are more than 200 of these specialized police precincts all over Brazil. (Read this on 1000 Peacewomen).
O Projeto Mulher – 500 anos Atrás dos Panos, nasceu com a proposta de resgatar e divulgar a participação das mulheres na formação e no desenvolvimento do Brasil. Este amplo projeto pretende dar visibilidade à atuação, ao saber, à fala e ao olhar feminino na história do país, através da realização de seus desdobramento nas áreas de eventos, audiovisual e editorial. É uma iniciativa que, desde 1997, celebra a parceria da REDEH (Rede de Desenvolvimento Humano) com a Arte Sem Fronteiras e cujo ponto de partida foi o apoio da Fundação Ford para uma vasta pesquisa. O compromisso é com a tentativa de recuperar a trajetória das brasileiras que, como muitas outras mundo afora, ainda estão escondidas atrás dos panos. Você também pode participar deste trabalho. Se conhece alguma história de mulher que tenha ajudado a construir o Brasil e que ainda não tenha sido catalogada pelo Projeto fale com a gente. Antes acesse nossa base de dados e verifique se o nome que você sugere já não consta. (See more on mulher500.org).
See here more about Redeh.org.
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