Fátima Oliveira, Brazil

"Before Brazil's return to democracy, women lived without political freedom, without a voice. Now we have the most advanced constitution in the world regarding women's rights. Our current struggle is to make sure that equality under the law is actually reflected in our lives, especially for black women. Brazil has the largest black population outside of Africa; half of Brazilian women are black. Research shows that we have a higher incidence of diseases such as sickle cell anemia, uterine fibroids, hypertension, and diabetes, and that these diseases develop differently during black women's pregnancies. We also have much less access to prenatal care and contraception than white women do. There is no more doubt as to who dies of the number one cause of maternal mortality in Brazil, which is untreated hypertension: we, the black women, do. I think that to be the director of Rede Feminista de Saúde [Brazilian Feminist Network for Health and Reproductive Rights] right after its tenth anniversary shows that feminists now recognize the legitimacy of black women's struggles."

About Fátima

The first black woman to run a feminist organization in Brazil, Fátima Oliveira currently directs Rede Feminista de Saúde (the Brazilian Feminist Network for Health and Reproductive Rights), a politically influential coalition of 182 activist groups, health care providers, research organizations, and nongovernmental organizations spanning twenty states. A physician, bioethicist, and pioneer in Afro-Brazilian women's health, she joined with other organizations to publish the first book about this subject, titled Workshops, Black Women, and Health, during her tenure as the Rede Feminista de Saúde's special advisor for Afro-Brazilian women's issues. She has also authored several of her own books on gender, genetics, and technology, and served on the National Health Ministry's committee to devise new national research guidelines in 1997. The only Afro-Brazilian woman on the committee, she ensured that all subsequent medical research includes black people and women.

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