Patrícia Poeta engages in the fight to end violence against women: ‘I needed to do something’

Patrícia Poeta is increasingly involved in the fight to end violence against women. This Monday (25), the presenter made her Encontro program a stage for discussion on the topic.

The program’s audience was made up only of survivors of violence. Two of them reported their experiences of more than twenty years in abusive relationships. The program also featured the participation of promoter Valéria Scarance and singer Naiara Azevedo.

In conversation with the F5who followed behind the scenes of the program, Patrícia Poeta explained why she decided to focus on the topic. She states that, in the last two years, since taking charge of the Meeting, she has come across increasingly shocking news of cases of feminicide and violence.

“Every day I open the news and, when I think I’ve seen it all, it only gets worse. It’s a body in the fridge, a stab, a hammer, a murder in broad daylight on March 25th. It’s very cruel. I needed to do something, I can’t just report,” he said.

“UN Women announced today that a woman is murdered every 10 minutes by her intimate partner. This is crazy. The danger is inside the home, exactly in the place where affection and support should come from”, says Patrícia.

The program also aired a report in which the presenter visited a secret shelter for victims of violence. Among the stories reported was that of a woman who was saved from her husband by her 12-year-old daughter, who asked the teacher for help. “She spent the day at school wondering if, when she got home, I would still be alive,” says the victim.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

For the presenter, focusing on such an urgent topic and giving voice to victims is more than her work as a communicator, it is a matter of mission and social responsibility.

“Then you see all the women I showed at the shelter. One lost a tooth, another lost her nose, had to be reconstructed in surgery. Another was pregnant, was kicked, her water broke, another lived in private prison, the man wouldn’t let her leave”, he remembers.

“As long as I’m here in this life, what can I do to help these women? It’s a cause in which I want to be more and more present. Nobody owns anyone, no man owns a woman”, he points out.

Patrícia also states that many of these victims are unaware of their rights. “As a communicator, I think my mission is to show these women the rights they have, the services they can use,” she says.

END OF THE CYCLE

The challenge of fitting such a tough agenda into a morning entertainment program was solved by focusing on the reconstruction and recovery of these victims.

“Today I showed two women who spent 20 years in relationships like this, but they freed themselves, went to study and learn a profession, they are working and they are free. We talk about the problem and talk about how to get out of it. There is light at the end of the tunnel , he has life ahead of him”, he says.

“If a woman listened to me today, if we managed to save at least one life, the mission was accomplished”, he concludes.