The state of Rio de Janeiro created the “Mother Beata de Iemanjá Observatory on Religious Racism”, the first institutional body of this type in the whole country. The group will bring together representatives of government bodies and civil society, and its creation was confirmed with the sanction and publication of the law in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the State.
The objective of the new observatory is to bring together public authorities and society to establish lines of research and integrate measures to confront the different types of violence imposed on the faithful of African-based religions in the 92 municipalities of Rio de Janeiro, such as discrimination, offenses and attacks on Umbanda and candomblé.
The initiative, by state deputy Renata Souza (PSOL), provides that the body will be coordinated by the Secretariat for Social Development and Human Rights, and will bring together representatives of the three branches, as well as members of universities and communities from Umbanda and Candomblé, in coordination with the State Council for the Defense and Promotion of Religious Freedom (Coneplir).
The author of the proposal understands that religious racism is a consequence of the four centuries of slavery that occurred in Brazil, which denied rights to the community of enslaved black people brought from Africa and their descendants. For her, the creation of the body intends to give visibility, security and guarantee that the violence is denounced.
“Many aggressions today go unreported and the authorities are not aware of it due to fear of the way complainants will be treated or received, which is a product of the very conception of religious racism. He banned what black people built, ancestrally. This affects our social, political and economic construction, affecting our beliefs and religions”, he says.
Coordinator of the Religious Intolerance Commission, Ivanir dos Santos highlights that, before the observatory, the state had a similar initiative, organized by civil society: the Center for Articulation of Marginalized Populations (Ceap), which deals with racism. The researcher views the topic with enthusiasm, but highlights important points for the implementation of the observatory to have an effective impact on society.
“The project was sanctioned and became law, but it needs to be clear to which secretariat it will be linked, who will be part of it and the actual availability of a budget allocation, so that it is even possible to implement actions like the ones you intend. It’s no use creating, regulating and not being able to make a difference, as is often the case in official initiatives of this type”, he says.
attacks on terreiros
In Rio de Janeiro, attacks on terreiros are concentrated in municipalities in the Baixada Fluminense. The state has a Precinct for Racial Crimes and Intolerance Offenses, in downtown Rio. The unit, records of occurrences, the product of them, statistics from the Public Security Institute (ISP), are the main current bases for combating racism religious in the state.
After the enactment of the law, the functioning of the observatory depends on regulation by the state government to start activities.
Reference: CNN Brasil
