Thefederal deputy Erika Hilton (Psol-SP) was re-elected with 1,596,472 votesand became the most voted woman in history for the Chamber of Deputies. The result occurred in an election that expanded the presence of women in Congress, but also strengthened a right-wing majority and led women with anti-feminist views to significant votes in different states.
Starting in 2027, the Chamber will have 109 female deputies, compared to 91 elected in 2022. Women will occupy 21.2% of the 513 seats. Among them, 47 were elected by left-wing parties,while 62 are from the right..
Hilton sees the progressive candidates' performance as a recognition of the work done during the current legislature. In his own case, he attributes the vote to the combination between issues that directly affect workers' lives, such as theend of the 6x1 shift, institutional action and presence on social media.
"I understand that this result is, first and foremost, a recognition of the work I have developed in the last four years. But it is also the result of a combination of proposals of great relevance, such as the end of the 6x1 shift, constant action in the Judiciary and effective communication," he said toBrasil de Fato.
The parliamentarian says that her work aimed to combine these agendas with the defense of historically marginalized groups.
People expect answers to their real problems, and that's what I dedicated myself to doing in an intersectional way, without ever neglecting the rights of women, the LGBT+ community, the black population, the homeless population, and other groups targeted by this system.
For Hilton,the electoral performance of left-wing womenalso results from the work built over the past four years, both inside and outside the Congress.
The candidacies of leftist women made history due to the resistance we were able to achieve, in the Chamber, on the streets, and on social media, even though we were a minority within a minority in politics," she says. "A significant portion of the population saw our work and trusted us to protect their rights in the face of a hateful and submissive agenda for women.
Attack on women's rights
Theadvancement of progressive candidaciesoccurred at the same time as women identified with the right gained important spaces. The new female bench in the Chamber will be more ideologically plural, while the entire House will continue to be predominantly right-wing. Conservative parliamentarians also had some of the largest state-level votes.
Hilton attributes this result to an international movement of reaction torights won by womenand minorities.
"There is a global movement to attack women's rights, which is being openly promoted by the US government and thetech giantsIn the case of big tech companies, there is even the monetization of speech.red pilland incel", says.
The deputy considers that these discourses seek to redirect women and minorities to dissatisfaction with economic and social problems. "They want to convince the population that, in some way, the precarious material conditions that the capitalist system offers are the fault of women's and minorities' freedom, happiness, and political rights," she says.
"They are taking the dissatisfaction caused by the system in which we live and blaming the biggest victims of this system," she concludes.
For Hilton, the strength of anti-feminist candidacies shows that this discourse has moved from the networks to the polls. “And that stuck. It became a vote for those who want to end women's suffrage.”
Dispute in Congress
The new composition of the Chamber, according to the deputy, imposes an even more intense struggle around women's rights. The right elected 303 of the 513 federal deputies, while the parties classified on the left were left with 124 seats.
Hilton states that the current legislature has demonstrated that an unfavorable balance of power does not prevent progress when there is mobilization within and outside Parliament.
“In this legislature, even with everything against us, we have achieved important advances in women's rights, such as the advancement of the criminalization of misogyny and other legislation that protects women's lives, and defeated giant benches that wanted to approve proposals such as theBill on Rape.”
The project thatcriminalizes misogyny, already approved by the Senate, had urgency approved by the Chamber in July, but is still awaiting merit vote in the plenary. The proposal equates crimes motivated by misogyny to those provided for in the Law of Racism.
The Bill 1.904/2024, nicknamed by its critics as "Bill on Rape", had urgency approved in 2024, but did not advance to merit vote after popular mobilization. The proposal establishes a penalty equivalent to that of homicide for abortions performed after 22 weeks, including in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape.
"This was the result of mobilization, both online and on the streets, continuous. And this is how we will need to continue, even more intensely, in the next legislature. Because that is what we have in hand with the new composition of Congress," says Hilton.
'Real problems' and the struggle for the vote
The deputy also relates the ability to contain the advance of the extreme right to the struggle over material issues. For her, one of the tasks ofthe second round between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL)will be to make the differences between the two projects more explicit in everyday life.
We need direct and clear communication about the risks that Flávio Bolsonaro poses to the daily lives of people compared to the real achievements of the Lula government.
Hilton points to the end of the 6×1 shift as an example. The proposal, already approved by the Chamber and on thesecond day of discussions in the Senate,reduces the weekly hours and expands the days of rest without reducing wages. Flávio Bolsonaro criticized the measure and defended greater freedom for negotiating work hours and remuneration between workers and employers.
“Flávio Bolsonaro argues that people should be paid for the hours worked. Lula wants to end the 6×1 shift and reduce working hours without reducing wages. Those who compare, vote Lula,” he says.
For the deputy, the issue should not be seen only as a proposal to be approved, but as part of a broader effort to regain voters who voted on the right or withdrew from the progressive field in the first round.
Not only the approval of the end of the 6x1 shift can influence, but the legislative process itself is already influencing and helping to turn the game," analyzes the deputy, who adds: "And yes, we have the conditions to approve the proposal before the second round. And that is what we are already mobilizing for.