Violence Against Black Women in Politics: Experiences and Testimonials from Brazil

Abstract

In this article the authors aim to understand the specificity of violence against Black women in Brazilian politics through the analysis of testimonies of Black politicians in different administrative positions and various regions of Brazil. Adopting the “Violence Against Women in Politics” (VAWIP) analytical model developed by Mona Lena Krook, the goal of this approach is to highlight the forms that this violence takes in the Brazilian context when gender and race intersect. In doing so, the article pursues two objectives. First, it offers an overview of violence against Black women in Brazilian politics, demonstrating how this phenomenon manifests itself in the analysis of these cases. Second, it observes how the testimonies of Black women politicians go beyond the analytical model proposed by Mona Lena Krook (2020), thus accounting for the intersectional specificities of political violence.