The PCB and the creation of Women's Unions in the city of Rio de Janeiro: the communists in the struggle for the rights of working women (1945-1948)

Abstract

This work aims to present the results of the research that evidenced the commitment of militants of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), especially women, to promote the creation of Women's Unions in different neighborhoods of the city of Rio de Janeiro between 1945-1948. These were associations composed exclusively of women, based both in peripheral regions and in the central areas of the city, which were intended to mobilize housewives, domestic workers and other workers around their daily demands. The Women's Unions denounced the famine, organized the distribution of food and other goods requested by the affiliates, sought to build consumer cooperatives, put pressure on public bodies to achieve the construction of schools, hospitals and to improve the supply of neighborhoods. Furthermore, through women's unions, the PCB sought to involve the poor female masses in the electoral campaigns of the period.

Keywords

• feminine unions
• communist women
• women's political work