Socialist President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this week claimed that Brazilian girls learn to “get touched” from a young age in what his party affirms are comments on the subject of cervical cancer screening.
Lula’s outrageous remarks have sparked widespread condemnation from Brazilian politicians and healthcare professionals.
The controversy arose on Monday night during a presidential campaign rally held in the city of Belém, Para — one of the president’s last scheduled public events before the October 4 presidential election in which Lula is seeking to be reelected for a fourth term. The now-controversial rally took place some hours after the Brazilian president visited the São João de Deus Hospital in Belém and toured its renovated facilities, including a new robotic surgery unit which can perform complex surgeries such as those related to prostate cancer.
Poder 360 detailed that during the rally, Lula recounted the story of his mother, Eurídice “Dona Linda” Ferreira de Melo, who passed away from cervical cancer at a time when treatment procedures were more “precarious.” After affirming that men are “cowards” for not undergoing prostate cancer screening, Lula then claimed that women instead learn to “get touched” from a young age.
“Today, we performed the first robotic prostate surgery here in the state of Pará and in the north of the country. The first robotic surgery. And why is this important? Because men are cowards. Men don’t like getting prostate exams. They don’t like to get touched,” Lula said. “Women learn to get touched from a young age, men don’t. They [men] got all these mannerisms. They don’t realize that when they get prostate cancer, they’re going to get touched a lot.”
The Brazilian president continued:
What’s the miracle of prostate cancer treatment that helps men overcome their fear? It’s that today, with robotic surgery, men will no longer suffer from urinary incontinence. He won’t need to wear diapers. He goes home the same day or the next day. More importantly: today, with robotic surgery, there’s no risk of sexual impotence in men. He can have the surgery and remain the same man he was before.
Lula’s remarks on girls learning to “get touched” at an early age immediately drew outrage among Brazilian politicians and society — prompting the ruling far-left Workers’ Party (PT) to issue a note to “clarify” Lula’s remarks.
In the note, shared with Poder 360, Metrópoles, and several other Brazilian outlets, the PT party claimed that Lula “was obviously referring to preventive gynecological exams, which, culturally speaking, are part of women’s routine health care from a young age.”
“Men, due to the prevalence of a culture that is still sexist, are reluctant to undergo preventive urological exams,” the note reportedly read.
The PT party attributed the backlash against Lula over his remarks to a purported plot allegedly conducted by the presidential campaign of conservative Senator Flávio Bolsonaro to “misrepresent” the president’s words, fueled by a “fake news machine.”
“Out of desperation over the latest poll results, and in an attempt to divert attention from the series of allegations against Flávio Bolsonaro, the Bolsonarista camp is currently attempting to misrepresent the President’s statement,” the text read in part.
Contrary to the PT’s claims, multiple polls have indicated over the past days that Lula and Bolsonaro are “technically tied” in a prospective runoff scenario between the two candidates, with the conservative Senator gaining a slight lead in recent days. At press time, it is largely expected that none of the 13 presidential candidates who will appear on the ballot will obtain the required votes to win in the first round of the election.
Poder 360, citing information from Brazil’s healthcare authorities, explained that contrary to Lula’s assertions, cervical cancer screening procedures in Brazil are only offered to women between the ages of 25 and 64 who have been sexually active — a guideline that covers all women regardless of symptoms. The same information is publicly available in a brochure produced by the Brazilian government and available online. On Wednesday morning, Brazilian doctor Victor Augustho reportedly lodged a formal request with the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics seeking its official position on the matter.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro fiercely criticized Lula over his outrageous remarks in a video published on social media on Tuesday. Bolsonaro emphasized that he has two young daughters, aged 14 and 12, who unlike what Lula claimed, are not “used to getting touched” from a young age.
“What you’re saying is prejudiced, sexist, and shows you don’t understand a thing. Your words reveal a lack of character,” Bolsonaro said. “Women need to be protected, and children need to be cared for. You are in no position whatsoever to continue serving as president of the Republic.”
Nikolas Ferreira, a young conservative lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, also chimed in on the controversy. In a video published on social media, Ferreira disputed the claims that Lula was comparing preventive cancer exams for men and women as affirmed by the PT party and stressed, “Girls aren’t to be touched from an early age.”
Ferreira’s video appears to have angered Lula, who referred to the lawmaker as a “bastard” during a Tuesday night campaign rally in Salvador, Bahia, alongside his wife, First Lady Rosângela “Janja” Lula da Silva. President Lula reportedly asserted that Ferreira “dared to make something up” about him on social media with regards to the controversial comments.
Per Metrópoles, Lula then handed over the microphone to his wife, asking her to “explain” and clarify the context of his words. The first lady, however, reportedly used local slang to call Ferreira a “little shit” and ordered him to “wash his mouth” before speaking about her husband.
“No little video of a guy in a T-shirt is going to make women lose their trust in this man, who was speaking with emotion about his mother, who had cancer,” the Brazilian first lady reportedly said.
“So I want to say this to that ‘little guy,’ I’m from Paraná, I don’t know if you guys know that. And up there in Paraná, we usually call boys ‘piá.’ And when they do something wrong, we call them ‘piá de bosta.’ And that’s exactly what that piá from Minas is, a piá de bosta [little shit],” she continued.