Ms. Lúcia Xavier
Lúcia Xavier is a social worker and human rights activist. She graduated in social work at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1984. She has been active since the 1970s in the fight against racism, including with the movement Acorda Crioulo in Cidade de Deus and the Research Institute of Black Cultures (1984). Between 1980 and 1997, she was active in the promotion of the rights of children and adolescents. From 1991 to 2002, Ms. Xavier was a parliamentary assistant in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
In 1992, Ms. Xavier founded Criola, an NGO dedicated to fighting patriarchal and cis-heteronormative racism, where she is still the General Coordinator. In 1999, she helped create the Disque Defesa Homossexual (Homosexual Defence Helpline), a pioneering public service for the LGBT community. Between 1999 and 2001, she participated in the preparation and realisation of the Third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and from 2002 to 2011, she took part in the process of review of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
In 2002, she was Deputy Under-Secretary for the Protection of Citizens of the State Secretariat of Public Security of Rio de Janeiro, coordinating the services aimed at combating racism, LGBT-phobia, environmental crimes and violence in the slums, as well as decriminalizing drug users. From 2007 to 2011, she was the executive coordinator of the network Articulation of Black Brazilian Women’s Organizations. She is an advisor to the Global Fund for Women and the Elas Fund, dedicated to social projects for the empowerment of women. She is also a member of the Committee of Black Women towards a 50-50 Planet in 2030, supported by UN Women Brazil.
