The Mofad Institute for Respect Advocacy has filed a general civil action against the Federation to suspend the appointment of the Attorney General of the Federation, Jorge Mesías, to the vacant position of Luis Roberto Barroso on the STF (Supreme Federal Court) on the grounds that there is gender inequality on the court.
In its suit filed in the Federal District Court for the Federal District, the Institute requests that the Confederation be ordered, by act of the President and the Senate, to nominate, hold a hearing and appoint a woman to the position of Secretary of the Supreme Court. It also demands that it be forced to pay compensation “in large sums that should be used for the benefit of public policies aimed at inclusion and gender equality.”
In the lawsuit, the institute stated that the current situation on the court is symbolic, as only one of the 11 seats on the STF is held by a woman – Minister Carmen Lucía, who will retire in 2029.
“This means that, in its current configuration, the STF has a female representation of less than 10%, a percentage that is completely at odds with gender equality, with Brazilian social reality – where women make up more than 50% of the population and more than 50% of legal professionals – and with contemporary demands for representative democracy.”
Movad argues that the absence of women from the minimum relative number in the STF generates tangible effects, by restricting interpretive perspectives, compromising constitutional jurisdictional pluralism and violating “democratic obligations that require constitutional courts to reflect the society they govern.”
“The STF makes decisions on topics that are sensitive to women’s lives: domestic violence, reproductive rights, equal pay, structural discrimination, public protection policies, among countless others,” he recalls. “The lack of female representation puts the court’s legitimacy in society at risk.”
The entity notes that the STF “cannot remain an asymmetrically composed structure, reflecting the historical inequalities that the Constitution itself seeks to eliminate.”
In a memorandum, the institute says that seeing “the STF, the highest court in the land, with only one woman (soon to retire), out of 11 available seats, is to ignore the Constitution, reality, statistics, the myriad inclusion and equality programs of the federal government itself and the rules of the National Council of Justice.”
“We emphasize that this is not a political or ideological act. We understand that the person appointed by the president has all the necessary requirements to fulfill this role, given his high and recognized technical ability,” the statement said, adding that MOFAD appreciates that there are “many highly qualified women in this position.”
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