How Female Leaders Affect Attitudes Towards Women in Nicaragua and Brazil

This paper analyzes how female leaders affect the attitudes towards women in Nicaragua and Brazil. It discusses general and specific literature on the historical and current situations in each country. It analyzes the effects colonialism, culture, religion, traditions and the law have on the perceptions of women. The paper further analyzes and measures how past and current female leaders like President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro and President Dilma Rouseff affect people’s views towards women. The rates of violence against woman and domestic abuse in Nicaragua and Brazil are analyzed and compared to Latin America and the world. This paper argues that women in positions of leadership lead to changes in the general attitudes towards women, but it is not clear if women leaders decrease the rates of violence against women