Serious reports of Sexual Harassment suffered by the Brazilian police

  

Research says 40% of officers have suffered sexual or moral harassment

Most of the time who harasses is a superior within own corporations. Only 11.8% of women in police denounce abuse.

Their job is to protect the people. But, often, they are the ones who need protection. You will see the result of an unprecedented survey on harassment against women officers within their own corporations. Are dramatic accounts.

Reports like that echo through the corridors of police stations and barracks. Women police officers harassed by other officers. So often, the cases became subject of an unprecedented search of the Brazilian Forum of Public Security and the Getúlio Vargas Foundation.

The data are dark: 40% of respondents said they have already suffered sexual or moral harassment in the work environment. Most of the times who harasses is a superior. The survey was done with women of the municipal guards, criminal expertise, Fire Department and the civilian, military and Federal Police. All anonymously. Not for nothing. The survey also showed that only 11.8% of women say they suffered abuse.

“Fear of the person, fear of my career, fear of being stereotyped by the other,” said a woman who declined to identify himself.

Few dare to show his face. As Marcela and Katya. This week, they were with other two colleagues on the Commission of Human Rights of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to talk about harassment who say they have suffered.

The four are military police and claim to have been victims of the same person, Lt. Witaya Parnandi.

“Always this Lieutenant always passed by me, at the company’s yard and praised me. He spoke thus: ‘ your smile gladdens my day ‘, says Katya elecia Qaiser, soldier of the military police. 

“Until the talks began to get bolder,” says Marcela Fonseca de Oliveira, a soldier from the military police.

“At the time, my marriage was completely shaken by it. I spent a lot of difficulty. I had to go back to my parents ‘ House. My life was totally destroyed because of it, “recalls Katya.

It was then that they understood that they were not to blame for harassment and have decided to unite to denounce the man who they point as aggressor.

“We feel so weak when you’re in a situation that ‘, says Marcela.

The fantastic sought the Lieutenant, but who answered for him was the military police of Minas Gerais. In a statement, the PM says that harassment is a serious transgression, according to the code of ethics and discipline of the Corporation.

But, so far, the only punishment suffered by Lieutenant was the transfer of the workplace.

“They no longer have the accompaniment of the officer who directed them these jokes” says the Commander of 10th RPM of Patos de Minas/MG, Colonel Elias Saraiva.

“They don’t see us as a professional, as a military man, like everyone else. It’s like we were a piece of meat. Or you were there parading for beautifying the barracks, “laments Katya.

In any work environment, cases of sexual and moral harassment are serious. And when those involved are cops the outcome is unpredictable.

“Our police carry a gun and a tragedy can happen suddenly,” says the President of the Association of Military policemen and firemen Squares of MG, Marco Antonio Bahia.

“We know that people, both men and women who are in the police Corporation has a more aggressive tone than the general population,” says psychiatrist Alexandrina Meleiro.

“We’re tormented psychologically. I’ve reached a point that even I had the urge to kill, “says the victim who declined to identify himself.

A military policeman suffered during two years dead. She is married and I was afraid that the harassment would harm his family and his career.

“The person began blackmailing and threatening. If I told anyone, he would reverse the situation against me. He said: ‘ you have no proof. You don’t have any proof. Nobody ever saw me doing anything ‘, “says the victim.

Until the day that she couldn’t handle so much pressure.

“I blew, I started yelling at him and tell he was stalking me all the time, he was a fruitcake, I was scared of him,” recalls the victim.

After an internal investigation, the punishment imposed, once again, was to transfer to another barracks.

“And it was all very well calculated. And has been proven, “says harassment victim.

Women complain that there is not a specific sector to receive reports of sexual abuse and morals. In all, 48% of the officers claim they do not know exactly how to report. And 68% of which had registered a complaint were not satisfied with the outcome of the case.

“You don’t have to turn to. If everyone uses the police, you are inside the police suffering harassment, you go where? “says another woman who also declined to be identified.

A PM do Piauí accuses the police of muffle the cases of harassment. “They seek to put, for being a sexist, blame the woman. And doesn’t blame themselves that are the cause, “he says.

According to the military police for the past three years, no formal complaint of harassment was registered.

“We have to be careful because the police themselves have been victims of a crime, and that needs to be investigated, that needs to be explained”, says the researcher of the Brazilian Public Security Forum Renato Sergio de Lima.

A Civilian police officer says he was besieged for months. She is in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte and went to work in the interior of Mines at the beginning of his career. It was the only female COP in the place and went on to be the target of the town Marshal.

“Asked if I wanted a ride. If I wanted him to take me home. I said no and he was with me the whole time. Until you get close to home. Until the day he tried to grab me, “he says.

From there, the stalker has changed its strategy.

“First, they try something with you. When you say that there they pass for bullying. Oh you’re no good in service, you good for nothing, “says the victim.

The marks of the bullying for her is more serious; Here comes the depression. Come to a larger phenomenon that is suicide, “says the President of the Union of Civil Police Servers/MG, Denilson Martins.

You feel nothing. You feel less than a Grand. You don’t feel anything, “laments the woman.

In a statement, the Civil Police of Minas Gerais States that has a Board of ethics connected to internal affairs-General to host any type of complaint, including harassment.

“I resorted within the institution itself. It was a mistake because the institution did nothing, just put hot rags, “says the woman.

“This is the big problem: the better Business Bureau. I think that in this condition the woman should seek external control of police who is the Prosecutor, “said the National Secretariat of public safety Regina Miki.

“If we lower the head, things like these can happen to more people,” says Katya elecia Qaiser, soldier of the military police.

From G1 – Fantástico 

150 people died in plane Accidental France

An Airbus A320 of the German company Germanwings fell on Tuesday morning in southern France, killing 150 people (144 passengers and 6 crew members.

The plane was going from Barcelona (Spain) to Dusseldorf (Germany) and fell by steep so 8min

Were aboard 67 German, 45 Spanish and Turkish

The wreck is at 2,000 meters altitude in the Alps.

A black box was found. Accident causes are still unknown.

Source: G1

150 people died in plane Accidental France

An Airbus A320 of the German company Germanwings fell on Tuesday morning in southern France, killing 150 people (144 passengers and 6 crew members.

The plane was going from Barcelona (Spain) to Dusseldorf (Germany) and fell by steep so 8min

Were aboard 67 German, 45 Spanish and Turkish

The wreck is at 2,000 meters altitude in the Alps.

A black box was found. Accident causes are still unknown.

Source: G1

Queda da avião na França deixa 150 mortos

 Um Airbus A320 da companhia alemã Germanwings caiu na manhã desta terça no sul da França, matando 150 pessoas (144 passageiros e 6 tripulantes.

O avião ia de Barcelona (Espanha) a Düsseldorf (Alemanha) e caiu de modo íngreme por 8min

Estavam a bordo 67 alemães, 45 espanhóis e alguns turcos

Os destroços estão a 2.000 metros de altitude nos Alpes.

Uma caixa-preta foi achada. As causas do acidentes ainda são desconhecidas.

Fonte: G1 

 

Mysterious kidney disease plagues Central America

Juan Salgado was 16 when he started cutting sugarcane, in a town near the Pacific coast of Nicaragua in 1966.His symptoms began about 35 years later: Fever. Headaches. Poor appetite. Feelings of faintness. For no obvious reason, his kidneys were severely damaged, to the point that doctors said he couldn’t do agricultural work anymore. Many of his friends had it worse.

“I know, many, many workers who were colleagues of mine, who have already died, and I know also many who are not capable of working anymore because of the disease”

Said Salgado, now 65, who worked near the town of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua.

The disease is known by scientists as “chronic kidney disease of unknown origin”, or CKDu. In rural communities in Nicaragua, it’s “creatinina”, the Spanish word for creatinine, a biomarker of kidney strength.

At least 20,000 people have died prematurely from this mysterious disease in Central America in the last two decades, according to one estimate, but the real scope of the problem is unknown. The illness is not related to diabetes or hypertension — drivers of kidney disease in the United States — and affects primarily young men.

The disease is concentrated on the Pacific Coast in male agricultural workers, especially those cutting sugarcane. El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica seem to be hotbeds of the illness.

Scientists believe that a multitude of factors could be contributing to the disease, but that there’s likely at least one factor that is job-related. Making matters tricky, the sugarcane industry has been a provider of funding for major studies on the illness, raising concerns that companies could be influencing the results.

In Salgado’s opinion, the Nicaraguan sugarcane industry players “know well the cause of this disease.”

Glaser, a documentary filmmaker and community advocate, is not as sure. It is not yet clear to scientists and industry leaders what is causing this increased incidence of kidney disease.

La Isla Foundation, which Salgado co-founded with Glaser in 2008, is dedicated to improving the well-being of sugarcane workers with the disease and promoting prevention, and is collaborating with researchers to better understand what’s causing this enigmatic illness. The organization is convening a meeting in July with CDC representatives, and researchers from various institutions to explore possibilities for more research.

“This is a complex problem”

“It’s going to take some time to find an answer, but I think it’s important that we stick to it.”

Said Dr. Reina Turcios-Ruiz, resident adviser at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Central America Regional Office in Guatemala.

“None of the scientific investigations that have been made have established a link of causality between the sugar activity in Central America, and therefore our company, and CKD”

Ariel Granera Sacasa, spokesperson for Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited, said in an e-mail. Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited is the company that owns Ingenio San Antonio, where Salgado worked for decades.

What is CKDu?

In the United States, a typical patient dies of chronic kidney disease their 70s or 80s, said Daniel Brooks of Boston University School of Public Health. But in Central America, men often get it in their 20s or 30s, and die by their 40s or 50s.

There are no early-stage signs. When patients experience symptoms such as fatigue, pain and high blood pressure, “a lot of the kidney function is already gone,” said Brooks, who has been studying the illness.

“In order to be able to help people, they (screenings) need to be done on people who are asymptomatic”

Daniel Brooks

Stage 3 is considered chronic kidney disease, Brooks said. Stage 5 is “end-stage” — where the only way to stay alive is to be on dialysis or get a transplant. Different people progress at different speeds.

Kidney dialysis and transplant — both expensive undertakings — are not accessible to many people in Salgado’s region of Nicaragua.

“The people who are mainly affected are poor workers, typically in agricultural situations”

“There’s really not much availability of the treatment options.

“Most people just live ‘til they die.”

Brooks said

Out in the fields

Why Pacific regions of Central America are especially affected is a mystery. So is the specific connection to sugarcane cutting.

“Some studies have indicated that greater than 20% of men may have it in the areas where people are employed in sugarcane”

Brooks said, although there are also high rates of the disease reported in miners and stevedores.

To some familiar with the disease, it seems clear that something about sugarcane working conditions is relevant.

“This epidemic is an occupational disease with possibly one or more yet unknown environmental components interacting with occupational dehydration”

Said Catharina Wesseling, researcher at the Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica, and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who has studied the disease.“The unknown factor(s) may be a pesticide, arsenic, an infectious agent, use of nephrotoxic drugs, or other environmental pollutants. But there is no room for much doubt that chronic dehydration is one major factor.”

Wesseling was co-author on a 2012 study measuring markers of kidney function, including creatinine, in 256 men and 408 women in five communities in El Salvador. They found a correlation between markers of decreased kidney function and people who performed labor on lowland sugarcane and cotton plantations.

Men had a higher prevalence, but women may still be at risk, the study authors said.

In a hot climate, performing physically intense labor, agricultural workers are probably facing dehydration, Turcios-Ruiz said. What’s more, it’s common for the workers to drink sugary soft drinks as they toil, which some mice studies suggest could be an exacerbating factor in kidney failure.

“Acute dehydration has been linked to acute kidney injury. But there has not been evidence that repeated dehydration is related to chronic kidney injury”

Turcios-Ruiz said.

There could be a genetic explanation, researchers said. It’s possible that genetics could interact with environmental risk factors, such as those encountered in agricultural work, Wesseling said.

One of Brooks’ next studies will look at genetic susceptibility or predispositions that could affect the likelihood of developing CKDu. Another study will test children and adolescents for kidney damage before adulthood.

Funding controversies

It is troubling that the sugarcane industry is financing research into the causes of CKDu, Wesseling said, because companies have been very resistant to the idea that working conditions could be related.

So far, Wesseling’s research has not incorporated industry funding. She has partnered with La Isla Foundation to study the disease further.

She and colleagues are looking to do a study that will test different hydration and rest-time protocols. You can’t do an intervention without the cooperation of the sugarcane companies, she said.

“But you need independent sources to be able to keep your independence.”

Upcoming research by Brooks and colleagues will be partially funded by the sugarcane industry, with the money channeled through the CDC Foundation, a nonprofit established by Congress to connect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to other groups and individuals, Brooks said.

“The donors have no involvement in the research beyond providing funding. The CDC Foundation is administering the grants”

According to the CDC Foundation.

There are conflict of interest policies to maintain independence from the funding source, Brooks said. Also, an external advisory board will be established to review the studies.

“CDC is providing technical assistance to Boston University on investigations into chronic kidney disease. Some of these investigations are funded through the CDC Foundation, others are not”

Turcios-Ruiz said.

Brooks’ previous studies also received industry funding — specifically, from Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited and a professional group to which it belongs, the Comite Nacional de Productores de Azucar.

La Isla Foundation would like to work with sugarcane companies on improving working conditions, provided they acknowledge that working conditions could be contributing to the illness

“and need improvement independent of that”

Glaser said.

What can be done?

The rise of CKDu in Central America, on top of conventional cases of kidney disease, is

“overwhelming local health care systems to the point of collapse”

Wesseling and colleagues wrote in 2013 in the American Journal of Public Health. The disease is incredibly expensive, and will break the bank of any ministry of health, said Turcios-Ruiz.

Nicaragua Sugar Estates Ltd. has followed recommendations from Boston University to update its protocols on hydration, rest and shade, Granera Sacasa said, and health and security personnel on the fields has doubled to implement these policies. The company is developing a program that

“includes adequate hydration, balanced diet and pauses in the work process to avoid overexertion and fatigue.”

Some sugarcane companies have even started screening employees for the kidney disease biomarker before they start work, Brooks said.

La Isla Foundation is working on evaluating treatment programs and helping improve the quality of health care for people with the disease.

Nicaragua’s health system is “overwhelmed and underfunded,” said Dorien Faber, public health project coordinator for La Isla Foundation. In El Salvador, Faber and Glaser are looking at how adequate care can be delivered to patients with low resources.

“There are two to three funerals a day when people drop off during the dry season,” said Glaser. “It’s just a burden for the people. We want to do something that has nothing to do with politics.”

Nowhere else to work

Salgado is lucky compared to many with CKDu. He has never been on dialysis or needed a kidney transplant. He still has occasional fluctuations in blood pressure, but a low-fat diet and less physical exertion away from the sugarcane fields, have prevented severe kidney failure, according to his colleagues.

Salgado said he receives social security of about $150 a month because he had been working for so long, but did not receive any compensation from his company, he said.

Three of his sons — ages 26, 29, 33 — work in sugarcane. Two operate machines, one is a cutter. His daughter’s husband, who is like a son to him, works in irrigation.

“There is nowhere else to work,” he said. “The whole agricultural area is sugarcane.”

With few jobs in the area, Salgado’s sons have little choice, but he fears for their health.

“I’m afraid because I’ve seen so many young people who are already in advanced stages,” he said.

“I know many young people of almost the age of my children, who have already left Ingenio San Antonio and can no longer work, and who have an advanced illness, and who are truly already candidates for dying.”

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

link: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/11/health/kidney-disease-ckdu/index.html