2022
Of 27 states, only 10 maintain licenses for same-sex couples
Country/area: Brazil
Organisation: O POVO
Organisation size: Big
Publication date: 30/06/2021

Credit: Flávia Oliveira, Thays Lavor
Biography:
Thays Lavor: Journalist, Master in Communication and Post-Graduate in Data Science. She works with investigative and data journalism, teaches courses and workshops aimed at investigating disinformation and data journalism. She is currently editor-in-chief of the data journalism center at O POVO, a newspaper located in the state of Ceará. She is a member of the board of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) and the network of ambassadors for Civic Innovation at Open Knowledge Brasil (OKBR).
Flávia Oliveira: Journalist and reporter for the multistreaming platform O POVO Mais.
Project description:
Only 10 units of the federation grant the same period of maternity leave to same-sex couples in the state public service. The survey by O POVO shows how the States remain behind. However, for servants, for one of them to receive paternity leave, judicialization is necessary. In other words, there is already discrimination against couples formed by two men or two women, making it simpler to grant this type of license to male couples.
Impact reached:
The impact of this report is in the act of revealing discrimination and non-guarantees of rights to homosexual public servants who adopt children in Brazil. The states deny the time of leave allowed by the federal justice and make this type of relationship invisible within the public administration.
Techniques/technologies used:
To build this report, DataDoc collected the statutes of public servants from each Federation Unit and based on official documents, we systematized them by State and time of leave offered to public servants who adopt in the country. Data were extracted from government institutional websites and checked via the Access to Information Law (LAI). 27 requests for LAI were submitted to all Brazilian states, these requests required the types and times of leave granted to gay servers who adopt children or adolescents, and the rules that govern the benefits.
What was the hardest part of this project?
The most difficult part of this project was collecting and systematizing the data. Because this information was not openly available to the population. It took 27 requests for the Access to Information Law to obtain government data and analyze textually the way in which governments treat homosexual relationships in their regiments.
What can others learn from this project?
Journalists can be inspired and learn how to implement the Access to Information Law as a tool of investigation in their work routine and thus produce evidence-based journalism that challenges the powerful and strengthens democracies.
Project links:
docs.google.com/document/d/1p6bzOypEKbHygfecOfFfBr54yv_dVlJoOIXyrTM9nkk/edit?usp=sharing