A survey carried out by Instituto Locomotiva and Question Pro shows that 9 out of 10 Brazilians agree that men and women have the same responsibility for raising children.
Of those interviewed, 67% agree that parental leave time should be the same for both genders.
The matter was the subject of debate in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in 2023. In December, the Court recognized that there was a legislative omission regarding the regulation of the right to paternity leave and set a deadline of 18 months for the National Congress to enact the law.
If the deadline is not met, it will be up to the STF to define the period of the license.
The Supreme Court's judgment occurred due to an action proposed in 2012 by the National Confederation of Health Workers (CNTS).
Will fathers and mothers have the same period of leave?
Compared to maternity leave, of 120 days, with the possibility of extension for up to six months, there is an “asymmetry between parental rights”, in the assessment of FGV Direito Rio professor, Paulo Renato Fernandes, specialist in Labor Law.
“Man is, in a certain way, disregarded, from a legal point of view, from assuming the role of protagonist in raising children. This comes from a vision, of course, that is patriarchal, sexist, a vision that I understand is outdated”, argues Fernandes.
Currently, paternity leave is provided for in the CLT and guarantees the father the absence from work, without salary deductions, for a period of 5 consecutive days in the event of the birth of a child, adoption or shared custody.
The argument of the proposal prepared by the CNTS and considered by the STF was that, although the right to paternity leave is provided for in the Constitution, the measure was never regulated in its own law – as determined by the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act.
Discrimination in the labor market
Regarding the position of the job market, the survey shows that, for 75% of those interviewed, women have fewer opportunities compared to men, a situation that worsens when they have children.
According to survey data, 88% believe that women face more challenges in this regard.
Labor legislation prohibits any discriminatory action in the employment contract, but 55.6 million people say they have suffered harassment or discrimination in the workplace – women (40%), black people (40%) and non-straight people (43%) are those who most declare having suffered situations of prejudice, discrimination or harassment, compared to men (33%), white people (33%) and straight people (35%).
For Rachel Rua, director of iO Diversidade, companies must reflect and adopt policies that guarantee a healthy environment for all employees.
“It is necessary to offer training to all employees and develop policies that welcome minority groups. Without this, it is unlikely that a work environment will be respectful and equitable”, says Rachel.
The quantitative research includes a sample of 1,500 interviews carried out in April throughout Brazil.
(*With information from Renata Souza, from CNN )
Source: CNN Brasil
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