Damares Regina Alves (born 11 September 1964) is a Brazilian lawyer and evangelical pastor. She served as the Minister of Women, Families and Human Rights during the
Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro from 2019 to 2022. She is the second female minister appointed to the new government as of December 2018. In the
2022 election, Damares was elected Senator for the
Federal District
A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...
.
Damares defends the prohibition of
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
after rape and in risk pregnancies,
women trafficking, suicide,
the prohibition of juvenile
self-harming
Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...
and drug consumption, such as, from her perspective, taking hormone blockers.
Alves is engaged directly in the preparation of youth for the
Fourth Industrial Revolution and intended to consolidate an agenda between different ministries of the Federal Government capable of integrating programs, policies, projects and initiatives under the same, articulated perspective of impact—modernizing education.
Biography
Born in
Paraná, Damares migrated to the
northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
with her family. As a child, she lived in
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
, in
Alagoas
Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. It ...
and
Sergipe
Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. Serg ...
. She also lived in
São Carlos
São Carlos (Saint Charles, in English, ; named after Saint Charles Borromeo) is a Brazilian municipality in the interior of the state of São Paulo, 254 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. With a population of 254,484 inhabitants, it is th ...
in the
São Paulo state
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...
. These moves are strictly linked to her father's profession, the pastor Henrique Alves Sobrinho, from the "Quadrangular" Gospel Church—
Foursquare Gospel Church
The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
The church has its origins in a vision of ...
. Damares also became a pastor herself.
She graduated in Law in the now extinct , an institution that had its credentials revoked by the Ministry of Education (
MEC) in 2011 and is forbidden to make entrance exams since 2012.
In
São Carlos
São Carlos (Saint Charles, in English, ; named after Saint Charles Borromeo) is a Brazilian municipality in the interior of the state of São Paulo, 254 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. With a population of 254,484 inhabitants, it is th ...
, she worked for the Municipal Secretary of Tourism, serving in the old COMTUR (Municipal Commission of Tourism), during the government of the mayor Vadinho de Guzzi. In 1999, shortly before obtaining her registration in the state bar exam, the Order of Attorneys of São Paulo (
OAB-SP, in a São Carlos subsection), she became junior parliamentarian auxiliary in Brasília.
She was a pastor of Foursquare Gospel Church
and also of the
Baptist Church of Lagoinha,
in
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...
.
Damares was coordinator of the educational project of Proteger Program, organization created by Guilherme Zanina Schelb, regional attorney of the Republic in the
Federal District
A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...
and member of the National Association of Evangelical Jurists (organization of which Damares was Director of Parliamentary Affairs). The project's creator was known for defending the project nicknamed "" (School Without
oliticalParty).
In 1999, Damares moved to
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
to work as a parliamentary assistant in the office of deputy Joshua Bengtson (PTB-PA), also pastor of the Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
She also worked for federal deputy
Arolde de Oliveira
Arolde de Oliveira (11 March 1937 – 21 October 2020) was a Brazilian soldier, economist and politician. Although born in Rio Grande do Sul, he spent his political career representing Rio de Janeiro, having served as federal deputy for nine con ...
(PSD), a senator elected by Rio de Janeiro in 2018, and whose success at the polls in October was due, in large part, to the support of the so-called "Bolsonaro clan." She also served as a parliamentary auxiliary in Senator
Magno Malta
Magno Malta (born October 16, 1957) is a Brazilian fundamentalist evangelical pastor, religious singer, and politician. He has represented Espírito Santo in the Federal Senate from 2003 to 2019 and was re-elected for a separate term that sta ...
's office, prior to the bond with the senator in favor of the
Espírito Santo state. He was chief of cabinet of another exponent of the
Neopentecostal
The Neo-charismatic (also third-wave charismatic or hypercharismatic) movement is a movement within evangelical Protestant Christianity that is composed of a diverse range of independent churches and organizations that emphasize the post-biblical ...
bench in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
, the federal deputy
João Campos de Araújo (PRB).
She worked as legal adviser in the National Congress for more than 20 years, before her appointment by
Bolsonaro to the Ministry of Women, Families and Human Rights.
From 2013, during a lecture at a church in Mato Grosso do Sul, Damares has presented herself as a lawyer and master in education, constitutional law and family law, although she never received a master's degree and her schooling is limited to a Law degree.
In the occasion, Damares was criticizing a Dutch custom. When confronted about her lack of credentials, she argued saying she was a Christian master (or "teacher," as in most of the versions), as in Ephesians 4:11 "And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers".
Background
Alves had been a legal adviser in the National Congress for more than 20 years prior to her appointment by Bolsonaro.
As Minister of Women, Families and Human Rights of Brazil, she, at the United Nations 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2019, affirmed that the combatting violence against women is a definite goal of the government, as well as the growth of girls.
Personal views and activism
Deeply religious, she has claimed to have seen a vision of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
atop a
guava
Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...
tree, and has stated that "the State is secular, but this minister is extremely Christian, and because of that, she believes in God's design."
Alves has indicated that religious views should take greater prominence in national politics. In 2016 journalists reported that she had addressed worshippers in an Evangelical church telling them, "It is time for the church to tell the nation that we have come ... It is time for the church to govern."
She also disclosed that she is a supporter of "traditional" gender roles within society and an opponent of what she regards as "ideological indoctrination", suggesting that girls should be regarded as "princesses" who wear pink and boys as little "princes" who wear blue.
[ In a viral video, she claimed that Elsa from Disney's '']Frozen
Frozen may refer to:
* the result of freezing
* a paralysis response in extreme cases of fear
Films
* ''Frozen'' (1997 film), a film by Wang Xiaoshuai
* ''Frozen'' (2005 film), a film by Juliet McKoen
* ''Frozen'' (2007 film), a film by Sh ...
'' must be a lesbian because the princess ends up alone in a castle of ice. Alves says that "women are made to be mothers."
She also supports prohibiting abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
in cases of rape or incest (only supporting it on cases where the mother's or baby's life/health is threatened) and harsher punishments on women trafficking and rape. she defended projects to fight juvenile self-harming
Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...
/suicide and drug consumption (which includes, in her opinion, hormone blockers).
Alves is a vocal critic of the annual carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
festival in Brazil, saying that "carnival parties, unfortunately, are an affront and a disrespect to the Christian faith." Alves promised to pass a bill protecting evangelicals who protest at the carnival.
Personal life
She has an adoptive daughter of Kamayurá
The Kamayurá are an indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous tribe in the Amazon Basin, Amazonian Basin of Brazil. Their name is also spelled Kamayura and Kamaiurá; it means "a raised platform to keep meat, pots and pans." The Kamayurá langua ...
indigenous origin, born in 1998 in Xingu Indigenous Park
The Xingu Indigenous Park (, pronounced ) is an indigenous territory of Brazil, first created in 1961 as a national park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Its official purposes are to protect the environment and the several tribes of Xingu in ...
. Some journalists of Época Magazine in Brazil went to the tribe, who claim the child was kidnapped from them; they say she was lured to Brasilia by Damares and an associate named Márcia Suzuki, who presented themselves as missionaries, under the pretense of taking her to the city for dental treatment. Alves and her adopted daughter deny it, while Damares claims she saved her from malnutrition and possible infanticide.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alves, Damares
1964 births
Living people
Evangelical pastors
Brazilian evangelicals
Brazilian anti-abortion activists
Female critics of feminism
Anti-communism in Brazil
People from Paranaguá
Government ministers of Brazil
Women government ministers of Brazil
Republicans (Brazil) politicians