The police formally accused Brazilian Silvio Almeida, who was dismissed from his position as minister 14 months ago, when the first anonymous accusations against him emerged, of sexually harassing several women. Although the case remains strictly confidential, the Minister of Racial Equality, Marielle Franco, stands out among the alleged victims. Press reports indicate that Almeida touched him during a ministerial meeting in the presence of the Federal Police Chief. Almeida, a philosopher with a distinguished academic career, was one of the most prominent black intellectuals in Brazil when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appointed him Minister of Human Rights. He pleads his innocence and says it’s all a campaign against him.
The police sent their complaint against Almeida to the Supreme Court, which is examining the case. This in turn has been transferred to the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, who will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to bring the alleged sexual harasser to trial. The complaint is being processed in the highest court because Almeida was a minister when the aforementioned events occurred. The former minister fell into ostracism.
There is little certainty on this issue because the operation is being conducted under secrecy. Magazine Piaoui He published a detailed account drawing on a wide range of sources. It is known that Minister Franco gave a statement to the police, but in practice she did not speak publicly about the matter. Both Almeida and Franco, the sister of murdered chancellor Marielle Franco, were active in the black movement and came to government from worlds outside professional politics. They were two of Lula’s most popular ministers among Brazilian progressives.
The sexual assault against Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, during a recent public event organized by a man, has highlighted a type of violence that only affects women, but reaches even the strongest of them.
The scandal broke in September 2024 when the NGO Me Too Brasil, which advocates for victims of sexual violence, revealed that it had received anonymous complaints from five women against Minister Almeida. After the initial shock, and given the public reputation of the accused, President Lula decided to end the matter. He summoned him to his office and asked him to resign. When he refused, he was expelled.
The first anonymous information was supported hours later by open testimony posted by a woman on Instagram. Professor Isabel Rodriguez said that after he became friends with Almeida and shared some coffee, in 2019, while having lunch with other people after a business meeting, he put his hand under her skirt and touched her genitals. “It took me a while to understand that I was a victim,” he explained at the time.
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