New controversy in Brazil after statements by Jair Bolsonaro who defended child labor by highlighting her personal example: "I worked since the age of 8 (...) and today, I'm who I am".
"Work gives dignity (...) regardless of age"
"Look, working on the farm at 9 or 10 years, it did not help me at all.When a child aged 9 or 10 works somewhere, there are plenty of people to denounce the 'forced labor' or "child labor." But if he is smoking crack, nobody says anything, "said the far-right president. "Work gives dignity to men and women, regardless of age," he continued during his weekly broadcast live on Facebook.
The following day, during an official act, he added: "I worked since the age of 8 by planting maize, picking bananas (...) while I was studying, in parallel. today, I am who I am, it is not demagoguery, it is the truth ".
"It does not mean we will decriminalize" child labor
These statements triggered many outrageous comments on social networks. "This is the best example to encourage a child not to work, it will prevent him from becoming an adult like him (Bolsonaro): with so much hatred and incompetence.The place of children is in school", On Twitter, PSOL's Marcelo Freixo, a member of the left-wing party PSOL, reacted.
Brazilian legislation prohibits work under the age of 16, except for apprentices, who can start at age 14. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (IBGE), nearly 2.5 million minors aged 5 to 17 work in Brazil. "The left is attacking me because I defend the culture of work for our children from a very young age, and if I had defended the early sexualization or the use of drugs, they (leftists) would be This is the truth! ", defended Friday on Twitter Jair Bolsonaro.
On Friday morning, his Minister of Women and Human Rights, former evangelical pastor Damares Alves, tried to put an end to the controversy. "Look, our generation has worked early, I worked very early, our parents worked very early, but that does not mean we will decriminalize (child labor) (...) We are sure that the work of children is a violation of rights, that it can not be allowed, "she said.