When Isis International invited Sao Paulo's Feminist Sexuality and Health Collective to work jointly on this issue of the lsis International Women's Journal, we were given complete freedom to select the material on the Brazilian experience in the field of women's health. We had many possible starting points, since the women's health movement in Brazil has grown and diversified significantly in the last five years, just as the rest of the women's movement in Brazil.
We cannot say, however, that there have been any big achievements during this period, either in general or in specific areas, but many small battles have been won, the outcome of various factors, including the growth of the women's movement. No one would even consider, for instance, claiming that the government's Integrated Women's Health Care Programme (PAISM) embodies women's aspirations as to health policy. This programme, created in the last years of the military regime, does recognize some of the claims made by feminists, but we are aware that the bureaucratic management of the programme could mean that no progress is made. For this reason we have decided to participate more actively in its implementation: criticizing, demanding discussion and forums with institutional bodies, and taking part in meetings and other activities organized by these bodies.
The material we are presenting on Brazil partly reflects this process. We decided to take the First National Meeting on Women's Health, held in Sao Paulo in November 1984, as a starting point and guide to the accounts of other experiences given in this issue. The document of the Meeting - the "Itapecerica Letter" published here – is the result of the discussions and reflects the willingness of many women's groups to take a more active part in the process of implementation of federal and state* health programmes. Besides the thoughts on the relationship between autonomous women's movements and government health policies, several workshops were held on the experiences of groups in self-examination, sexuality, sex education, mental health, Pap tests, examination, contraception, psychotherapy, and more.
Two of the central points of discussion at the meeting were family planning policy and sterilization. We have tried to examine these issues through a historical account of the feminist movement, its thought, meetings, documents and proposals, and through articles and research reports. We also share the experiences of some health groups, to show what women are concretely doing in Brazil. The extensive list of groups given at the end of this section shows how impossible it is to discuss in more depth, as much as we would like to, the experience of all the women's groups working on health in this country.
Feminist Sexuality and Health Collective
Sao Paulo, Brazil
* Brazil is a federal republic comprising twenty-two states, four territories and one federal district. Each state has relative autonomy which allows it to implement its own policies, as long as they do not contradict federal policy.