Sabrina de Campos
| Sabrina de Campos | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 December 1980, São Paulo (Brazil) |
| 2 February 2019 (aged 38), Lebanon2 February 2019 (aged 38), Lebanon | |
| Other names | Sabrina Bittencourt |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Activist, disclosing information about the cases of sexual harassment by the spiritual medium John of God |
Sabrina Campos, better known as Sabrina Bittencourt (São Paulo, December 24, 1980 - Lebanon, February 2, 2019) was a Brazilian activist. She became better known after publicizing cases of sexual abuse by the spiritual medium João de Deus (a.k.a. John of God).[1][2][3][4]
Biography
One of the biggest names in the contemporary feminist movement was that of the Brazilian known as Sabrina Bittencourt,[5] born Sabrina Botella de Campos on December 24, 1980, in São Paulo, mother of three, nomad, performer, visionary, social entrepreneur, human rights and animal welfare activist, business angel, Doctor Honoris Causa.[6]
Sabrina’s childhood and youth were marked by physical, psychological, and sexual violence. She was the victim of sexual abuse since the age of 4 by two members of her family, belonging to the Mormon community to which her parents belonged; she was raped by a stranger, caught in the act, in Recife-PE and suffered a miscarriage from that criminal act at the age of 16. Her survivor’s strength propelled her to co-create more than 30 decentralized and horizontal social ventures, across four continents, for numerous vulnerable groups and minorities, until February 2019, when she passed away at the age of 38.
After a series of sexual abuses in her childhood and adolescence, Sabrina came to be seen as impure by the members of the Mormon community. Despite denouncing her ecclesiastical abusers, the church’s leadership was silent in response to her calls for help, and she suffered several forms of retaliation. She married, at the age of 20, a man recently converted to Mormonism, from whom she suffered domestic violence and decided to divorce after four months of marriage, being one month pregnant with her first child, Gabriel (BITTENCOURT, 2018).
In this context, she reports: "I overcame all of this by creating social projects and businesses, traveling a lot and seeing the world and situations worse than mine. This stopped me from becoming a victim. I went head on in the pursuit of helping those people who, like me, suffered abuse within a religious institution. I believe in a social justice in which society as a whole can protect people's lives and diminish the power of those who use faith to abuse by exposing them publicly in a responsible way" (BITTENCOURT, 2018). Upon breaking with this first abusive marriage, Sabrina returned to live in São Paulo with her son, restarted her journey as a social entrepreneur, resource mobilizer and, among other actions, co-created the first extension course in Resource Mobilization and Communication for the Third Sector at the University of São Paulo, at the School of Communications and Arts in partnership with Professor Ismar Soares.[7]
Philanthropy and activism
According to Fonseca (2008), between 2002 and 2008, Sabrina created dozens of projects with the objective of generating income for mothers of kidney-sick children, blind people, deaf women, and young filmmakers. In 2005, she directed the executive part (together with Professor Ismar Soares from EDUCOM / USP and SESC / SP, with support from SEPPIR) of the first event of discussion and inclusion in the media of people of African descent, called “Africa-Brazil: Racial Equality in Media”. In addition to Brazilian authorities and 26 Diaspora specialists from African countries, more than 600 people attended, and a document was signed marking the beginning of public policies in the areas of communication, art, culture, and media to equate opportunities for people of African descent. According to Vieira (2007), in March 2007, Sabrina opened the first business for visually impaired people in the country, a massage therapy clinic composed of blind masseuses and low-vision assistants, inside the Júlia Bergmann theater complex, in Barra Funda, in São Paulo. Highly reported at the time, she was also part of the organization of the 1st World Ophthalmology Forum for the Prevention of Blindness.
After a few months, a São João festival balloon fell onto the clinic’s complex,[8] starting a serious fire which caused Sabrina to restart the social enterprise, creating alternatives in the public parks of São Paulo, with support from the Secretariat of Green and Environment, under the management of Eduardo Jorge and sponsoring companies. She offered sensorial experiences and free massages to the population of São Paulo for six months (VIEIRA, 2007).
That same year, she organized her second wedding, with Catalan Rafael Velasco, considered the first ecological wedding in the world, at Parque Trianon in São Paulo, generating revenue for 14 Non-Governmental Organizations and open to the public. With the live coverage of 13 television stations, Sabrina showed empirically how people can create sustainable events: from a pet bottle fiber wedding dress, organic and local food, hotel accommodation with clear policies against sexual exploitation, paid jewelry made by inmates from the Federal District, street singers and musicians from peripheral groups, transportation on foot, by subway and bicycle, to a carbon-neutral offset through reforestation and full waste recycling. From her wedding, a documentary called “Com Um Limão, Duas Limonadas” was produced, shown at festivals throughout the alternative, green and underground circuit in European countries and the USA.[9]
At the age of 26, in November 2007, according to Fonseca (2008), she was elected by more than 120 social leaders from all countries in the American continent, as the youngest board member in the history of “Partners of the Americas”, the largest volunteer organization in the hemisphere, based in Washington, D.C., founded by John Kennedy, and became co-responsible for more than 200 projects of the organization alongside 15 other members. The choice of Sabrina as a member of the Board was an exception, according to Geno Bonaventura, president of the Illinois chapter (which is the name of the group to which São Paulo is linked within the organization). That’s because, according to him, the council of which Sabrina was a member had only elder and more experienced participants, such as former ambassadors, politicians, businessmen, and university directors. "Sabrina brings a differentiator in terms of raising funds," says Bonaventura. "She has a modifying element, aggressiveness, contacts and initiative and this is very important for us" (FONSECA, 2008).[10]
In 2008, Sabrina created the 1st Social Film Exhibition from Latin countries in Chicago and São Paulo, with the collaboration of 52 Brazilian and Latin American universities, with audio description for the blind, shown at the Chicago Film Festival, organized by the Latin Cultural Center of Chicago.[11]
She was nominated by organizations in Brazil, the USA, and Switzerland for the Award by the Special Secretariat for Human Rights, in the category “Defending the rights of people with disabilities”.
She trained groups of volunteers from multinational companies and organizations in Latin America, where she was an active voice in proposing a change in philanthropic and welfare culture, bringing a vision of empowerment and income generation for people systematically assisted and put into a vicious cycle of welfare.
She collaborated with large companies in the transition and enforcement of the law, which, since 2007, has forced companies to have quotas for working with people with disabilities. She was part of the first generation of Brazilian social entrepreneurs. She organized sustainable businesses for social projects linked to young blind and deaf people, in Cameroon, Africa, as well as cooperatives for women victims of domestic violence, with whom she worked until she died. While based in Barcelona, Sabrina supported the co-creation of alternatives for women and organizations around the world, based on what she believed to be her life’s mission, to help free innocents from inhuman situations.
Between 2009 and 2016, she organized the delivery of food and medication to the Palestinian community in the Gaza Strip and to Syrian refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos. She mentored architecture students in the creation of ecological and low-cost houses with the Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. She collaborated for ten years with UNESCO-Barcelona in the creation of events, networks, and congresses on sustainability, urban resilience, and conscious consumption.[12] She invested in cooperatives, social enterprises, and organized groups to exchange goods and services.[13]
According to Vines (2013), Sabrina began to undertake in the area of Democratic Education in 2013, motivated by her children and the Association for Gifted children and young people of Catalonia, where she was part of the board.[14]
In the same year, according to Okabe (2015), she created the “School with Wings”, breaking with the standardized school model which has been imposed on a large social majority around the world for a long time. Sabrina focused her project on homeschooling gifted children, a method that, according to Da Silveira (2015, p.11) “[...] her focus is on functional learning, and not on reaching a final score on a test - which oftentimes tests nothing”. The entrepreneur dedicated herself to the creation of a democratic collective learning network, following the same line of thought as Leojaime Lino, who considers that “the school is a factory that directs the student towards teaching, and not towards learning” (LINO, 2011 apud DA SILVEIRA, 2015, p.11). The schooling environment is often a hierarchical and undemocratic coexistence, which is exactly why Sabrina Bittencourt became involved in this project and tried to offer it to her children and parents who would like to give wings to their children as well.
At the “School with Wings”, every student is encouraged to create their own unorthodox uniform, with their own colors and designs, and to understand the production chains involved in making clothes, in addition to the artistic supports used. From this, they move to local and international culture and citizenship. At the end of the spiral, young people must create a social project which embodies what they’ve acquired throughout the year, cooperatively (NOGUEIRA, 2013). According to Lino, there are several criticisms of current educational structures that follow outdated models, as they do not teach the student to think, but focus on qualifying them for the job market (LINO, 2011 apud SILVEIRA 2015). Sabrina did not think about abolishing schools, but about creating alternatives that did not focus on state interests pre-established by and focused on the markets, but on quality of life, dreams, time creating memories and feeling emotions, enhancing the best each one has within themselves, without restraints, and to avoid shaping frustrated adults into a sick society, which is the current scenario of the world in general. Thus, it can be said that unschooling/homeschooling is a learning process drastically differentiated from institutionalized teaching. In order not to get attached to the wishes and desires of an institution that regulates knowledge, unschooling opens space for freedom of learning in its purest essence. It gives wings to those who seek to increase their knowledge (DA SILVEIRA, 2015 p. 17).
According to Nogueira (2013), the “School with Wings” started from four elements, in order for the learning to start from the inside out. Children start studying production processes, then move on to biology; understanding of the city and end with the macro, which is the history of the world. Due to the applicability and ease of replication in any country, Sabrina was invited by the MEC in 2013 to be one of the speakers at the I CONANE - National Conference on Alternatives for a New Education.
In 2014, Sabrina was invited by the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation of Jalisco, Mexico to create and direct education projects for the whole country and to articulate international technology businesses.[15] In 2015, she moved with her family, sponsored, created and directed innovation laboratories, awards and competitions for university students, mentored young people with high intellectual abilities, promoted activism and income generation for native peoples, people with disabilities and the LGBTIQ+ community.[16][17]
She represented Brazil in New Zealand at the World Congress on Alternative Education in 2015. She lived between 2015 and 2016 in Mexico and California, where she created the "Jóvenes Transformadores" program, the first exponential technology, social innovation and arts program for young people aged 13 to 20 and offered scholarships to more than 5,000 students and 1,000 teachers in Latin America.[18] That same year, she faced non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which she treated with Gerson Therapy.[19]
In 2016, she returned to Barcelona and expanded her role as a mentor and business angel in sustainable business. In November, she received an Honoris Causa Doctorate, during the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO Chair in Barcelona, offered by the educational group EDUCEM of Mexico, for her work in disruptive education. The event was attended by Brazilian and Catalan authorities.[20]
On May 27, 2016, she spoke publicly on her Facebook about the case of the gang rape of the young minor Beatriz (RJ), using her own rape as an example that no matter what a woman wears, or where she walks, she is in danger, in an attempt to provoke discussions within religious communities, and promised to be more involved in exposing abusive religious leaders. Her post went viral, becoming the subject of several publications (STEVAUX, 2016)[21][22]. In March 2017, she was cured of cancer for the first time and turned her work to artistic manifestations of performance, films, shows, and events.
In November of the same year, she participated in the Water Innovation Lab Brasil event – Canadian foundation program Waterlution.org, mentoring young entrepreneurs in search of solutions related to the regeneration of water in the world.[23] In March 2018, she was honored in Barcelona, by the network of technology parks in Catalonia, Barcelona City Hall and incubators, for promoting female equality in science and innovation, at the 10-year Special Forum of FemTalent.[24]
She received an award for her “1hour4girls” project, which supports UNICEF’s program aimed at humanitarian aid and prevention of genital mutilation of girls and women in Kenya, and prevention of forced marriages in African and Asian countries.
Sabrina made her mark when she told viewers, “It’s past time for us to take the lead in all life protection processes. After all, we are half the people on Earth and the other half, we were the ones who gave birth”. Sabrina was involved several times in anonymous denunciations and rescues of women recruited into human trafficking in European countries, which culminated in police operations such as “Operación Carioca”[25][26] and, more recently, in the co-creation of the COAME movement – Combating Abuse in the[27]Spiritual Environment, where she organized the collective denunciation of hundreds of women to the authorities for the crimes committed by spiritual leaders João Teixeira de Faria (João de Deus), Sri Prem Baba, Edir Macedo, Gê Marques, Ananda Joy, Deva Nishok, among the best known.[28][29][30][31][32]
According to Jacometto and Martins (2019), Sabrina formalized complaints to the Public Ministry of São Paulo and Goiás, about the crimes of sexual abuse committed by João Teixeira de Faria and possible international trafficking of children and women.[33] Due to her exposure in this case, Sabrina and her family received constant death threats.[34][35]
According to her COAME team, Sabrina prepared the other activists and, together with Professor Maria do Carmo Santos, leader of the Grupo Vítimas Unidas – known for her accusations against Dr. Roger Abdelmasih –, she worked to bring evidence and encouragement to authorities in several countries, helping hundreds of victims around the world to seek justice and demand action from the authorities.[36][37]
Death and Honors
According to her family members, Sabrina was forced to commit suicide by members of a human trafficking gang she was denouncing, while in Lebanon on February 2, 2019, dying on February 3rd. Her family currently lives under protection in Europe and follows Sabrina’s legacy, assisting victims and referring cases to the authorities.
In February 2019, Deputy Benedita da Silva, representing all PT activists and politicians, gave an emotional speech acknowledging, in the Chamber of Deputies, the struggle of Sabrina Bittencourt and her legacy.
"It is with great sadness that we receive the news of the death of Sabrina Bittencourt. Sabrina dedicated her life to militancy against sexual abuse in the spiritual milieu. She recently helped to unmask João de Deus, religious leader accused of more than 600 sexual abuses. Sabrina did not commit suicide; Sabrina is a victim of the patriarchal system we live in. She was killed for having a life destined to fight those who are abused and silenced. Sabrina was killed by persecution, slander, and constant threats. Sabrina’s death opens wide to the world the country that Brazil has become: a hostile and intolerant country. With all its weapons aimed at the black, LGBT, poor, and women population. We, parliamentarians, members of the PT’s National Directorate and the PT’s National Secretariat for Women, sympathize with her family and make ourselves available for any measure they deem necessary. We are also at the service of Sabrina’s fight. We will never let her fight die. We will cover all cases of sexual abuse. Until they let go of our bodies. By Sabrina, By Marielle, By Claudia, By All! Until we are free!?"[38]
In March 2019, Bobô, state deputy in Bahia, made a nomination that determined the Secretariat of Policies for Women (SPM-BA) to institute the “Bahia Mulher que Faz a Diferença Medal”, to three Brazilian activists, among them, Sabrina Bittencourt, in honor of her investigations and complaints.
In May 2019, Deputy Delegate Adriana Accorsi, representing ALEGO – Legislative Assembly of Goiás, paid tribute and posthumous recognition for Sabrina’s support in combating child sexual exploitation. Sabrina militated and brought to the discussion all the causes that did not interest the system and for that, she paid with her life. Currently, they try to erase her memory and gradually destroy her legacy, as they have always done with activists in the history of Brazil, since it is not interesting for the system to keep alive the memories of women who dared to question the structures of a patriarchal society. - By Letícia F Cordeiro, TCC 2019 FMU
According to the book "Privacidad, Transparencia y Éticas Renovadas" by Editora Egregius https://egregius.es/catalogo/privacidad-transparencia-y-eticas-renovadas/ (free download), on pages 57-65, it was considered by specialists in journalistic ethics, that the treatment of her death was disrespectful and sensationalist.[39]
References
- ↑ Paiva, Fred Melo. «Sabrina Bittencourt, the woman who unmasked João de Deus». Carta Capital. (December 23, 2018) (in Portuguese)
- ↑ "Activist who brought together women to denounce João de Deus commits suicide, says NGO." O Globo. Rede Globo. (February 3, 2019) (in Portuguese)
- ↑ “Sabrina Bittencourt, woman who led the denunciations against João de Deus dies”. Correio Braziliense. (February 3, 2019) (in Portuguese)
- ↑ «The Body Hunt of Sabrina Bittencourt». The Intercept Brazil. (February 3, 2019) (in Portuguese)
- ↑ Diretora, Um Por Todos-Anna MuylaertEsta coluna será “ocupada” por artistas de várias áreas; Produtora, Roteirista E.; carreira, Anna Muylaert estudou cinema na Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo No começo da; De 1980, Na Década; infantis, realizou alguns curtas-metragens Integrou equipes de criação de programas; Rá-Tim-Bum, como Mundo da Lua e Castelo; longa, da TV Cultura Seu primeiro; Discos, Durval; Filme, recebeu os prêmios de Melhor. "O machismo é um software". Itaú Cultural (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Salto Contigo" (in español). Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Fonseca, Adriana (2008). "Lion's Breath and Claw". revistapegn.globo.com (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)[permanent dead link] - ↑ "Balloon causes fire in theater and school in São Paulo". Gazeta do Povo (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Marriage in an ecological version stirs Paulista". O Tempo (in português). 25 April 2013. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Highlights". revistapegn.globo.com (in português). Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "ILCC - International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "RESURBE3" (in español). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)[permanent dead link] - ↑ "Salto Contigo". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)[permanent dead link] - ↑ "Participation of Sabrina Bittencourt (Sabrina Campos)". FANJAC (in español). July 31, 2013. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "SICYT presents advances in the Universidad Digital project". www.milenio.com (in español). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Petrone, Tatiana (April 2018). "Mentoring work of Sabrina Bittencourt in Mexico". Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ González, Rocío (August 2016). "Tell it in signs". Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ México, EDUCEM (2017). "Youth Transformers". Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Gerson Institute - Supporting Health and Healing with the Gerson Therapy". Gerson Institute. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Salto Contigo" (in español). Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Magazine, Marie Claire. "Me, Reader: "I suffered rape and abuse and today I help victims from all over the world"" (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ de Campos, Sabrina. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-06-03. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Waterlution". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Sabrina Bittencourt receives the Premio FemTalent Especial 10 años Barcelona". FEMTALENT (in español). Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Carioca Ops uncovers a plot with 28 ghost companies". La Voz de Galicia (in español). 2013-01-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Pontevedra, Silvia R. (2019-06-17). "You're nothing. I took a shot, buried them in a cave and asked me". El País (in español). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ↑ "The spiritual leader who is accused of committing sexual abuse during rituals with drugs and ayahuasca in Brazil". BBC News Mundo (in español).
- ↑ de Lara, Bruna. "There is nothing sacred about it': Accusations of sexual abuse and exploitation in the sanctuary of Brazilian tantra guru Deva Nishok". The Intercept Brasil (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The secret of the Gods". TVI24 (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Prem Baba's Ciranda of Sex, Money and Lies". Época (in português). 2018-09-13. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "After John of God, religious guru Ananda Joy is accused of sexual abuse and rape". O Globo (in português). 2019-01-23. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "John of God is sentenced to 19 years in prison for sexual crimes". Brasil de Fato (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)[permanent dead link] - ↑ "MP investigates accusation against João de Deus for kidnapping". Jornal da Band (in português). Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "MP-GO gathers testimonies from activists who accuse João de Deus of international trafficking in children". O Popular (in português). 2019-01-08. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "SP's Public Prosecutor's Office asks for investigation of the trafficking of babies in the case of João de Deus". Folha de S.Paulo (in português). 2019-01-08. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The business desk of João de Deus". ISTOÉ Independente (in português). 2019-10-04. Archived from the original on 2021-08-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Brasil de Fato". Brasil de Fato (in português). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Dep. Benedita da Silva (PT-RJ) registers PT note about Sabrina Bittencourt's suicide". Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Privacy, transparency and renewed ethics". EGREGIUS.ES (in español). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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