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A Feminist Analysis of the Legal Mechanisms of Protection and Repair in the Context of the Brazilian Extractive Industry: The Doce River Case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2022

Juliana Bertholdi Open the ORCID record for Juliana Bertholdi [Opens in a new window]  and
Danielle Anne Pamplona
Juliana Bertholdi*
Affiliation:
Master at Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (CAPES-PROEX Scholarship), Brazil
Danielle Anne Pamplona
Affiliation:
Full Professor of the Post-Graduation Program in Law (Master/Doctorate) at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Brazil
*
*Corresponding author. Email: juliana@bmef.adv.br
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Extract

This piece uses the Doce River case (2015) to illustrate the gendered impacts of the failure of corporate human rights due diligence. We also ask the question: would the Gender Dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights1 (Gender Guidance) have made a difference to the way women were treated in preventive measures taken and in the application of redress mechanisms? Taking this specific case, we seek to illustrate the importance of integrating gender into international business and human rights (BHR) frameworks if women’s rights are to be protected and respected in the context of business activities.

Keywords

Doce riverduty to protecteffective remediesextractive industrywomen’s rights
Type
Developments in the Field
Information
Business and Human Rights Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 1: Special Issue: From Formalism to Feminism: Gender, Business and Human Rights , February 2022 , pp. 175 - 180
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 Human Rights Council, ‘Gender Dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’, A/HRC/41/43 (23 May 2019) (Gender Guidance).

2 IBAMA, ‘Laudo Técnico Preliminar: Impactos ambientais decorrentes do desastre envolvendo o rompimento da barragem de Fundão, em Mariana, Minas Gerais’ (2015), http://www.ibama.gov.br/phocadownload/barragemdefundao/laudos/laudo_tecnico_preliminar_Ibama.pdf (accessed 17 June 2020), 2.

3 Ibid, 3.

4 Flávio Fonseca do Carmo et al, ‘Fundão Tailings Dam Failures: The Environment Tragedy of the Largest Technological Disaster of Brazilian Mining in Global Context’ (2017) 15 Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation 145, 146.

5 Penelope Simons and Melisa Handl, ‘Relations of Ruling: A Feminist Critique of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Violence against Women in the Context of Resource Extraction’ (2019) 31:1 Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 113.

6 Cintia Paes, Patricia Fiúza and Laura Marques, ‘Mariana: mulher que abortou na tragédia luta há 4 anos para que bebê seja reconhecido vítima’, G1 Minas Gerais (29 October 2019), https://g1.globo.com/mg/minas-gerais/noticia/2019/10/29/mariana-familias-ainda-sofrem-impacto-de-rompimento-de-barragem-e-tentam-retomar-suas-vidas.ghtml (accessed 20 December 2020).

7 IBAMA, ‘Nota técnica 02001.002155/2015-91 CSR/IBAMA’ (2015), http://www.ibama.gov.br/phocadownload/barragemdefundao/laudos/laudo_tecnico_preliminar_Ibama.pdf (accessed 17 June 2020), Annex, 7.

8 Ministério Público de Minas Gerais et al, Atingidos: um olhar sobre a atuação das comunidades e do Ministério Público de Minas Gerais após o desastre de Mariana (Belo Horizonte: O Lutador, 2016); Ramboll, ‘Avaliação do Programa de Reparação Integral da Bacia do Rio Doce’ (2017), http://www.mpf.mp.br/para-o-cidadao/caso-mariana/documentos/relatorio-ramboll (accessed 10 November 2020).

9 FGV, ‘A Situação das Mulheres Atingidas pelo Desastre do Rio Doce a partir dos Dados da Ouvidoria da Fundação Renova’ (2019), http://www.mpf.mp.br/grandes-casos/caso-samarco/documentos/fgv/fgv_a-situacao-das-mulheres-atingidas-pelo-desastre-do-rio-doce-a-partir-dos-dados-da-ouvidoria-da-fundacao-renova (accessed 19 July 2020).

10 Gender Guidance, note 1, 15.

11 IBGE, ‘Censo 2010’ (2010), https://www.ibge.gov.br/apps/snig/v1/?loc=0&cat=-15,-16,53,54,55,-17,-18,128&ind=4704 (acessed 17 June 2020).

12 Conselho de Defesa dos Direitos da Pessoa Humana, ‘Comissão Especial “Atingidos por Barragens” Resoluções nos. 26/06, 31/06, 01/07, 02/07, 05/07’ (2010), https://www.mpmg.mp.br/lumis/portal/file/fileDownload.jsp?fileId=8A91CFA9673F5F3C016741DA79712493 (acessed 12 July 2021); FGV, note 9, 23.

13 FGV, ‘A Situação das Mulheres Atingidas pelo Desastre do Rio Doce a partir dos Dados da Ouvidoria da Fundação Renova’ (2019), http://www.mpf.mp.br/grandes-casos/caso-samarco/documentos/fgv/fgv_a-situacao-das-mulheres-atingidas-pelo-desastre-do-rio-doce-a-partir-dos-dados-da-ouvidoria-da-fundacao-renova (accessed 29 October 2021).

14 Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office v Samarco et al, Proceeding no. 0023863-07.2016.4.01.3800, 12th Federal Court of Minas Gerais.

15 Joana Nabuco and Leticia Aleixo, ‘Rights Holders’ Participation and Access to Remedies: Lessons Learned from the Doce River Dam Disaster’ (2019) 4:1 Business and Human Rights Journal 147.

16 Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office v Samarco et al, note 14.

17 FGV, note 9.

18 Ibid, 12.

19 de Beauvoir, Simone, The Second Sex, 8th edn (London: Vintage Classics, 2015).Google Scholar

20 FGV, note 9, 51.

21 Ibid, 12.

22 Human Rights Council, ‘Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises’, A/HRC/RES/17/4 (6 July 2011).

23 See, e.g., Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, ‘General Comments: Brazil’, First session of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights (2014), https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/WGTransCorp/Session1/Pages/GeneralComments.aspx (accessed 25 August 2021); Human Rights Council, ‘Annex to the Report on the Fifth Session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights’, A/HRC/43/55 (9 January 2020), 6–7.

24 Constitution of Brazil 1988, art 5.

25 Federal Law no. 12.334, 2010 (Brazil).

26 Decree no. 9.571, ‘Diretrizes Nacionais sobre Empresas e Direitos Humanos’, 2018 (Brazil).

27 Maria da Penha v Brazil, Case 12.051, Report no. 54/01 OEA (2000); Federal Law no. 11.340, 2006 (Brazil).

28 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ‘Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Brazil’, CEDAW/C/BRA/CO/7 (23 February 2012), 4.

29 Gender Guidance, note 1, para 37.

30 Federal Law no. 12.334, 2010 (Brazil).

31 Ibid.

32 A staggering 67 per cent of the dams’ reports indicate only name, state of location, coordinates and main destination, making a vertical analysis of their safety unfeasible. ANA, ‘Relatório Anual de Segurança de Barragens’ (2019), http://www.snisb.gov.br/portal/snisb/relatorio-anual-de-seguranca-de-barragem/2019/rsb19-v0.pdf (accessed 20 December 2020).