Brazil circus spotlights path to healing for female victims of gender-based violence

NITEROI, Brazil — NITEROI, Brazil (AP) — Performers twisted and twirled above the sand on a beach across the bay from Rio de Janeiro^[1] in an aerial circus show that sought to draw attention to the widespread problem of violence against women in Brazil^[2].

Six women and two men performed the piece titled “Alone we are petals, together we are roses” for the first time on Saturday in Niteroi city with Rio’s famed landmarks — the Christ the Redeemer statue^[3] and Sugarloaf Mountain^[4] — in the background.

At the beginning, a woman in a pink bodysuit and with an attitude struts around on stilts. The male artists knock her to the ground. But the victim reappropriates her body by exploring its physical strength and gains courage from her connections with other women. At the end she returns on even higher stilts.

“After we go through all of this, we grow even more. We become stronger. Not that this is a good way of learning how to be a woman, but we end up stepping into it,” said Rosa Caitanya Hamilton Azevedo, a 31-year-old artist who plays the victim’s part and who has also suffered from gender-based violence.

Juliana Berti Abduch, who has also been a victim of this form of violence, created the Suspended Circus Acrobatics project in 2020. The group’s first performance in 2023 focused on domestic violence. She said the new piece isn’t a continuation of that show, but a way to keep addressing and fighting violence in its many forms.

Partaking in the project can be healing for the artists who have been subjected to gender-based violence, who arrive fearful and traumatized, according to Berti Abduch.

“From the moment they start the classes, they begin to overcome their limitations. This helps a lot in life in general. I’m certain that the project helped make the women feel much more secure,” Berti Abduch said after her piece’s debut.

Approximately 100 people gathered to watch the performance, some of whom were passing by and stopped, intrigued by the visually striking sight involving aerial hoops, trapezes and silks, on a beach packed with people lifting weights and playing volleyball.

“I found it impactful,” said Fabiane Curione de Medeiros, who was in the audience. “I think the message — that women need to unite and expose the violence — needs to become a reality.”

More than one in three women in Brazil was a victim of sexual or gender-based violence over the course of a year, according to a 2025 report by the think tank Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, the highest number since records began in 2017. All forms of violence against women have increased since then.

An example of the ongoing struggle for women’s rights in Brazil is the legal status of abortion. While it is permitted in three circumstances, including in cases of rape, in practice women often face significant barriers^[5] in accessing these services.

During the performance, a series of alarming statistics are blasted from a nearby amplifier, including the fact that a woman was raped every six minutes in Brazil last year, also according to the forum on public safety.

“The show generates a heavy atmosphere, because we talk about the situation. But we also show that there are paths and strategies to fight against it,” said Hamilton Azevedo.

“The performance in itself is a strategy. We wanted to move away from that place of sadness and hold onto hope that the future will be better. And build that future through art, sport and the empowerment of women,” she said.

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