The election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has thrown the country into a period of stark division. Bolsonaro has promised to take Brazil in a fundamentally different direction. But what could this mean for the most vulnerable in Brazilian society?
Bolsonaro, it seems, wants to turn the clock back on the many gains Brazilians have won in terms of democracy, freedom and rights although some rights will be enhanced, such as the right to bear arms. The new president would be happy to see US levels of gun ownership as well as the variety of guns on offer too. In the United States, disabled people are three times more likely to experience violent crime than non-disabled people according to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. For the most serious violent crime, including gun related crime the statistics make even more worrying reading: 12.7 per 1,000 disabled victims versus four per 1,000 non-disabled victims. Given that Brazil has far higher rates of violent crime and homicide than the US, criminals with easier access to firearms are only going to pose a far more serious risk to disabled people in Brazil.
The familiar soundbite of ‘making efficiency savings’, ‘cutting red tape’ and ‘reducing public sector waste’ has been a key feature of Bolsonaro’s rise from outsider to President.
As disabled people in the UK can verify, efficiency drives and ‘savings’ often lead to a reduction in state support for health and social care and in extreme cases lead to not being able to afford housing, food, clothing and medication let alone being able to access work, leisure and social opportunities. In short, ‘efficiency’ in government spending means a reduction in the quality of life for disabled people.
Some may say that disabled people have barely received a mention from the new President and therefore they have little to worry about. But judging by how he views other minorities and groups of vulnerable people such as trans people, I think disabled people have plenty to be apprehensive about.
The plight of disabled people in places that have taken a slide to the right like the UK and the US (with the high cost of healthcare impacting heavily on quality of life) and countries that seem to even in having a strongman leader, like Russia, doesn’t furnish someone with much confidence that disabled people in Brazil have much to look forward to other than a worsening of service provision and an escalation in hate crime towards them.
The response of disabled people in the UK to the attack on their welfare and health and social care provision has been encouraging. A spirit of internationalism in disability politics needs to take hold in order for disabled people to provide a united front against attacks on their lives and dignity.