Since the beginning of times, women have always been treated unfairly, suffering from inequality, isolation and violence.

Unfortunately, this is show by statistics and by our own history. This happens through machismo without limits, which does not accept gender equality, and leaves some women with their hands tied.

In northeastern Brazil, these statistics are even higher. I am a Popular Communicator from a cooperative in inland Bahia, working with family agriculture. While exercising my function in the rural areas, I meet many courageous women who break these ties and tread their own paths, independently and showing leadership.

They wake up and look after their vegetables, ensuring food and nutrition security of their families. They sell the surplus production in city markets, generating extra income and improving the quality of their lives and of those people who buy their non-toxic products. Some even go further, and exchange experiences from their production, and pass on their knowledge to farmers from other regions, teaching them techniques so that they can improve their production as well.

Some public policies targeted at those regions are very helpful in this process. A simple water harvesting technology in the backyard of a house can transform a life. I know that currently there is still much injustice done to women, but in rural and urban areas, they are increasingly fighting to ensure equal rights, gain their independence, occupy spaces and become subjects of their own stories.