Millions of Women Join Forces in Brazil to Fight Back Against 'Misogynist" and 'Truly Fascist' Presidential Candidate

Millions of women are coming together to lead the charge against right-wing Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, joining the #NotHim movement amid growing anger over his misogynistic and fascist policies that have led many to compare him to U.S. President Donald Trump.

As the country heads for an October 7 general election, women have mobilized to speak out against Bolsonaro’s attacks on their rights and ever-larger crowds are expected at upcoming rallies to denounce him.

The candidate, who is leading recent polls with 26 percent of likely voters backing him in a crowded field, has proudly stated his opposition to equal pay for women and has expressed a desire to roll back women’s right to abortion care. He’s been condemned by the country’s Superior Court of Justice for misogynist comments he made about Congresswoman Maria do Rosario, and has dismissed women as “idiots”—statements that many women, who make up 52 percent of Brazil’s population, vow he will regret come election day.    

“We need everyone to pull together to stop this disaster happening to our country,” one woman, Maíra Motta, told The Guardian.

Nearly 50 percent of Brazilian women disapprove of Bolsonaro, with 17 percent reporting that they back him.

As Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald noted earlier this month, lower-income women are a significantly contributing to the mobilization against Bolsonaro, with middle to high-income men among his biggest supporters.

Within 24 hours of the creation of a Facebook group called “Women United Against Bolsonaro” last month, 600,000 women had joined. The group now has 2.5 million members who vow to organize and attend protests against the candidate.

“It is terrifying to think we might have a president who doesn’t care about gender equality, who supports the idea that women should be paid less than men,” Ludimilla Teixeira, the founder of the group, told The Guardian.