According to 2022 census data, over 104 million Brazilian citizens are women, compared to 98 million men. The state of Rio de Janeiro has the highest proportion of women in the country, with just 89.4 men for every 100 women. However, despite this demographic disparity, Brazil still lags behind on gender equality, as is common in many developing countries. This highlights the pressing need for institutions like Casa Arte Vida (CAV), founded by philanthropist Ana Carolina Affonso.
The organization located in the heart of Rio offers and supports several gender equality programs, including the Woman Citizen Project (Programa Mulher Cidadã, in Brazilian Portuguese), which was established by the Rio de Janeiro’s Secretariat of Woman’s Promotion and Policies (SPM-Rio).
The volunteer project was first launched in 2021 to promote empowerment, citizenship, and a sense of belonging for women living in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Throughout its implementation, the Woman Citizen Project has received support from other local government departments and non-governmental organizations, such as Ana Carolina Affonso’s CAV. These institutions provide spaces for SPM-Rio to organize debating circles and training workshops, mainly in socially vulnerable areas.
Initiatives like the Woman Citizen Project are necessary for promoting gender equality and equity in socioeconomically vulnerable areas in Brazil. It does so by empowering women to achieve financial independence. In 2021 alone, the Woman Citizen Project brought together more than 200 volunteers, who offered 30 workshops to train over 1,000 women from Rio de Janeiro.
The Role of Ana Carolina Affonso’s CAV in the Woman Citizen Project
By partnering with institutions such as Casa Arte Vida, SPM-Rio has reached thousands of women living in Rio’s underprivileged areas. Ana Carolina Affonso’s institution, for instance, serves people living in Pedra de Guaratiba, which is considered one of the most disadvantaged zones in the city of Rio. Volunteers offer workshops and focus on professionally enabling these women to help them ensure their right to citizenship through work.
With the help of the Woman Citizen Project, in 2023, Ana Carolina Affonso’s CAV embraced nearly 50 women, providing them with training and workshops in the beauty field. Eyelashes extension, eyebrow design, braiding, and entrepreneurship courses offered by CAV’s volunteers empowered the women within the program. At the beginning of 2024, these women received their graduation certificates and became ready to join the workforce and achieve financial independence.
The Impact of Education on Gender Equality
Gender equality is one of the 17 sustainable development goals established by the United Nations. In developing countries such as Brazil, it still needs to be pursued as a primary goal. In this context, social programs similar to the Woman Citizen Project are important in promoting education for women, which is one of the most effective tools for a future with gender equality.
Through education, women and girls can accomplish significant changes in society. Education empowers women to work, challenge discriminatory social practices, and build gender equality policies. The education of young girls and women is essential to deconstruct gender stereotypes and to enable this audience to assume diverse roles in society. Formal and informal learning opportunities allow women to develop skills, confidence, and critical thinking.
The Woman Citizen Project arose as one of SPM-Rio’s initiatives to empower women through education and professional training. While discussing the project offered with organizations such as CAV, Rio de Janeiro’s women’s secretary, Joyce Trindade, explained: “A woman living in a vulnerable socioeconomic situation doesn’t have the condition to go to one of the training courses or workshops away from their homes. That’s why the work of the volunteers is so important to the program.”
Along with other personal and professional development projects, such as Casa Arte Vida’s Future Express, community initiatives and programs empower women and girls living in underserved communities, which reflects benefits for the entire society. For instance, gender equality can boost local economic growth by enabling more women to engage in the job market.
Additionally, training women can provide them with choices. Jobs, training, and financial stability become more accessible, reducing financial vulnerability and economic dependence, which, in turn, contributes to lower gender violence rates – notoriously high in Brazil. By promoting a culture of mutual respect and equality of rights, initiatives like the Woman Citizen Project also challenge social norms and encourage victims to speak up.
More About Casa Arte Vida
“House Art Life”, in literal translation, Casa Arte Vida is a non-profit organization established by the lawyer and artist Ana Carolina Affonso in 2007. It serves people living in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone, especially children and adolescents who reside in Pedra de Guaratiba. Besides the Woman Citizen Project, which results from CAV’s partnership with SPM-Rio, the institution also offers after-school and complementary education programs that enable participants to solve the issues found in their daily lives.
Some of the complementary education programs currently offered by Casa Arte Vida are Maker Lab and Future Express. Future Express, for instance, serves people between 16 and 24 years old who are in high school or who have just finished high school. Three times per week for five months, these young people get together to work on projects and subjects that will help them transition into adulthood. Some topics covered during Future Express meetings are entrepreneurship, finances, innovation, life planning, and career counseling.
Through programs such as Future Express, CAV employs the potential of extracurricular activities to mobilize social change. Besides helping young people in Rio’s underserved communities and favelas develop academically, these initiatives also promote gender equality through education.
Who Is Ana Carolina Affonso?
Ana Carolina Borges Torrealba Affonso founded Casa Arte Vida in 2007, after working in several areas, from law to hospitality. The Brazilian executive became involved in the art world as a curator and soon decided to become an artist herself. Currently, Ana Carolina Affonso is dedicated to painting tiles and working with ceramics in Cascais, Portugal. At Casa Arte Vida, the philanthropist continues with her mission to empower young people and children through arts and education.
Ana Carolina Affonso’s CAV and Woman Citizen Project: Empowering Women and Transforming Society
The role of education in a world where gender equality is still a challenge cannot be underestimated. Community initiatives, such as Ana Carolina Affonso’s Casa Arte Vida, partnering with governments, are inspiring examples of how education can encourage equality by empowering women. The impact of the Woman Citizen Project and other municipal programs should be recognized, as well as the work of volunteers who make education possible for women without access to it.
