Brazilian Female Diplomats and the Struggle for Gender Equality

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief history of how Brazilian diplomacy tackled the issue of women in its workforce and appraises current application patterns, career paths and posting of men and women. It is based on extensive research in private and public archives and on a database with information on diplomats who entered the organisation from 1902 to 2010 and retired or stayed in the organisation until 2015. Formal legal barriers ended after decades of struggle, but the professional diplomatic ethos still has a gender bias. We believe the case shows how the end of formal barriers is just the first step in a greater quest for gender equality.