Janja gives a speech in the Senate on International Women's Day and receives the Bertha Lutz Diploma.

247 - First Lady Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, received the Bertha Lutz Diploma on Wednesday (8) - International Women's Day - recognizing defenders of gender equality. She gave a speech in the Federal Senate and said she was "very honored to receive this diploma, which bears the name of a pioneer in the fight for women's rights. Bertha knew that guaranteeing women's rights depends on exercising our right to be represented in decision-making and power spaces. This is also my conviction."

Janja stated that despite recent progress, women still need more space in politics. "UN Women estimates that at the current rate, it will take us 300 years for men and women to have equal rights. 300 years. That's 15 generations that will still live with gender disparities, resulting in the impoverishment of women, their illness, violence, and death, especially of Black women who live on the outskirts of our country. A century after Bertha organized the fight for the right to vote and 90 years after we achieved that right, we continue to have to repeat: we need to be represented in decision-making spaces. In the Chamber of Deputies, we occupy only 17,7% of the seats, and in this House [Senate] only 16%. These numbers are higher than in the last election, that's a fact. We have much to celebrate in terms of progress in the representation of Brazilian women here in Congress, but we are still below the world average of 26% of seats in parliaments, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Today, in the Esplanade of Ministries, we have 11 women ministers and two presidents of public banks in Brazil." "The largest number of women in the top ranks of a federal government is progress to be celebrated, but certainly not our finish line. Each of the women here—ministers, senators, representatives, secretaries, advisors, coordinators—knows the day-to-day difficulties of politics."

Next, the First Lady spoke about misogyny and said she is the preferred target of those who attack the Lula (PT) government. “I have been the main target of lies, attacks on my honor, and threats on social media, even more so than the President of the Republic. I know that many of you also go through this, seeing your name, your body, your life exposed in a deceitful way. And that is why increasing female representation, especially in Congress, is so important.”

She also positioned herself as an “unconditional” ally in the fight against gender violence. “My commitment to increasing women's representation is permanent; it's part of my daily life. I believe we need to increasingly institutionalize our presence in positions of power and ensure that parity rules exist and are enforced. I will also be a staunch ally in actions against gender violence in politics. I think that's already clear to everyone. The issue of violence against women is unacceptable; the number we have in Brazil today is unbelievable. We need to put a stop to it. Stop killing our women. None of us should be afraid; all of us should be in politics.”

Also honored and awarded at the same ceremony were political scientist Ilona Szabó, Senate Director-General Ilana Trombka, journalist Nilza Valéria Zacarias, and Supreme Court President Rosa Weber. Two posthumous tributes were also given: to journalist Glória Maria and to the indigenous woman Clara Camarão, who fought against the Dutch invasion in the 17th century.