A sticker with the image of Jair Bolsonaro, presidential candidate for the National Social Liberal Party. AP ANA A sticker with the image of Jair Bolsonaro, presidential candidate for the National Social Liberal Party. AP ANA
Tens of thousands of Brazilian women took to the streets yesterday, protesting what they see as the misogynist ways of one of Brazil’s presidential candidates in years - right-wing congressman Jair Bolsonaro.
In a series of marches stretching from Manaus in the Amazon jungle to the megacity of Sao Paulo in the south-east, demonstrators organised under the hashtag #EleNao or #NotHim are pledging not to vote for the candidate who has made light of rape and called the gender pay gap justified.
Bolsonaro, a federal deputy from Rio de Janeiro, is the front runner in opinion polls, winning over many Brazilians with his ultra-hard-line stance on crime, unvarnished rhetoric, and a career that has been largely free of corruption accusations.
Yet he has also repelled many by commentary widely considered sexist, misogynist and homophobic.
His relative lack of support among women could spell trouble for the candidate, a former army captain who has become the market favourite after embracing free-market policies on the campaign trail.