The daughter of a Brazilian girl suffers from violence and xenophobia at school in Portugal, although she is Portuguese: the case is archived

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The investigation process at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) was archived this week. It was opened after Gabriela, who is a lawyer, filed a complaint.

— I decided to archive it. Treat it like a kid’s thing. In other words, pulling down my daughter’s pants and panties at recess, without any adult watching her, is normal — Gabriela told the column.

Portugal Giro has been following the progress of the investigation for a month. He received reports and images of the attacks, which began when V. was four years old and continued until November.

The investigation was concluded because, according to the Bragança District Public Prosecutor’s Office, the required evidence was not found and it was not possible to identify the suspects.

Gabriela challenged the court’s decision, saying the General Inspectorate of Education and Science (IGEC) was aware and its process would have formed the basis of the investigation.

— There is the question of the IGEC’s decision to do nothing. In other words, the congresswoman has read the IGEC process, she said.

The day Gabriela reported that her daughter had pulled down her pants, the same student attacker allegedly threw sand in the girl’s eyes, who ended up in the national health system:

— She went to the health center because the same boy who took off her panties threw sand in her eyes. The educator then declared that she was not going to inform the boy’s mother because he had already apologized. He didn’t tell me either, I found out about it from my daughter.

Between Gabriela and the school there is information that identifies situations and names. Like on one occasion, in 2023, V. had his finger bitten by a student and Gabriela learned that it was sporadic.

Previously, the same student, according to Gabriela, had already acted aggressively towards V. and the school was informed of this because it received a complaint. Just like on another occasion when she was kicked.

In November, V. was kicked again by a student and suffered a bruise on his left leg.

— (…) the fact that the deputy gave the archiving order and wrote that it was not recurring, it has always been recurring and it continues to be so — said Gabriela.

Although she is the daughter of a Portuguese man and was born in Portugal, V. speaks “Brazilian” like her mother and, after the attacks, the student’s accent began to be challenged at school:

— Regarding xenophobia, my daughter asked me if I didn’t like her because she was Portuguese, and I answered that she was Portuguese, but at school everyone said that she spoke Brazilian and that she was Brazilian. She said all this while crying, crying – she said.

— The school was told that they did not care about complaints to the IGEC because 99% are “of Brazilian origin” — he added, stressing that the current teacher would be the “only one who is bothered by the harassment.”

The Brazilian said she had not been informed of the conclusions of the processes at IGEC and Parliament. And he said what he intended to do:

— My lawyer said that she could ask the judge to open an investigation directly and say that there had been an irregular filing. The lawyer was also not informed. Which she found strange, because she’s the one in charge.

In the small town where they live, everyone knows everyone, says Gabriela. And even the mayor, the equivalent of the mayor of Brazilian municipalities, was aware of the affair.

— Is it right to leave my place of residence to look for a private school so that my daughter can be safe? The nearest is 70 km away. This is not fair, because when our children are in school, the responsibility and duty of care falls on the school. But they turn a blind eye. Everyone is protecting themselves, but they are not protecting the children,” she said.

When contacted, the directors responsible for the school, the Ministry of National Education and the IGEC did not respond.