Necessary to expand women's rights, says Rousseff

President Dilma Rousseff said today (Mar. 8), on International Women's Day, that it is necessary to establish and expand the women's rights. "In the past 13 years, the government has had gender issues and the establishment of women's rights as a priority," she wrote on her Twitter account.

She noted that a year ago she signed the law on  femicide. "Since then, women killings due to domestic violence or gender discrimination have tougher punishments," she added.

Rousseff also pointed out that Maria da Penha Law, enacted in 2006, "a milestone for combating violence against women", is internationally recognized.

"On International Women's Day, my affectionate hug to all Brazilians who face a daily struggle to raise their children, to have a career, to assert themselves as persons, and to build a more equal and fairer country," she wrote.

The president will sign today a interministerial decree establishing the guidelines for implementing the law that provides for performing reconstructive surgeries of sequelae caused by violence against women under the Unified Public Health Care System (SUS).

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta