Mônica Bergamo: Procon-SP delivers balance sheet to Tarcísio and details anti-racist actions adopted in establishments

Procon-SP delivered to the transition group of the governor-elect of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), a balance of its activities in the last four years. In addition to highlighting that the number of attendances doubled in the period, the document details the agency’s initiatives to curb racism in commercial establishments.

COMBAT

Created in November last year, in partnership with Universidade Zumbi dos Palmares, Procon Racial received 39 complaints of racism in one year of existence. Since March, the service has also received cases in a physical space, which is located within the educational institution. No fines were applied.

COMBAT 2

The agency’s executive director, Guilherme Farid, says that more than penalizing, the objective is to promote awareness. Fines, according to him, are adopted when there is a recurrence in the situation, which has not yet been verified. “At first, we called the company to understand what happened and recommended a series of measures. Fines, according to him, are adopted when there is a recurrence of the situation, which has not yet been verified.

PENALTY

One of the measures adopted is the racial literacy course, offered free of charge to employees and collaborators of the accused companies. But there are also more rigid conducts. In one of the cases, for example, Procon demanded that a mall in São Paulo put an anti-racist clause in the lease contract signed with a store that had been denounced.

PENALTY 2

“The item determines contractual termination if the company commits racist acts. It is a way of providing an extra guarantee so that the situation does not happen again”, says Farid.

ANSWER

He adds that the program emerged especially to act on cases of veiled or concealed racism, such as when a black person enters a commercial establishment and is followed by a security guard. “Or when the opposite happens, the black customer is not attended to by anyone, he is treated as if he were invisible.”

TO WHOM

The agency also looks at cases in which attendants are cursed or mistreated by customers because of their skin color. According to Guilherme Farid, complaints to Procon Racial are still below expectations. “We believe that people are still taking notice of the initiative,” he says.

IN HIGH

The document also presents the growth of the total attendances carried out by the agency. In 2019, 629,000 cases were received at Procon units and online. The following year, that number rose to 1 million, and in 2021, it reached the level of 1.2 million attendances. In 2022, until October 31 (last data computed in the report), 929 thousand cases were received. For Farid, this increase is the result of the computerization of the system.

HIGH 2

“Before, the denouncements arrived online, but later the entire procedure was carried out on paper. We used technology to reduce bureaucracy and streamline services”, he says. Farid took over the role this year after Fernando Capez, the then director, left office to run for a vacancy as a federal deputy — he was not elected.

NEW FACE

With the change of government, Procon should have new leaders from 2023.

DIVA

Actress Renata Sorrah poses as Wilma, the character she will play in “Vai na Fé”. The soap opera premieres in January on Globo and will replace “Cara e Coragem”. In the plot, she is a renowned theater, film and television actress, but currently receives few invitations to work. Wilma is a vain and rude snob. Although she is supported by her son, the singer Lui, played by José Loreto, she considers him tacky and tacky.

_{with BIANKA VIEIRA, KARINA MATIAS and MANOELLA SMITH}