Shame

The impact of teenage pregnancy is much greater in girls

In the past eight years more than eight hundred cases of child marriages – early or forced – were identified in the country. Although most of the teenagers who got married are between 16 and 18 years old, there are 126 situations that involve children between 10 and 14 years old and 346 between 15 and 16 years old. The average age on the date of marriage was 15 years for girls and 17 years for boys

Of the total of 836 cases identified, 493 were child marriages, 261 early marriages and 82 forced marriages. These data are based on the responses of 224 public and private entities and published last October in the White Paper: Recommendations to prevent and Combat Child, Early and /or Forced Marriage.

To get married in Portugal, one must be at least 16 years old, and requiring authorization from parents or legal guardians.
Due to pressure from childhood and youth organizations, the minimum age for marriage has only this year been raised by Parliament to 18 years.

The impact of early marriage is much greater on girls, who see their rights to health, education and development denied. The withdrawal from school often works as a form of pressure for marriage, explains the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), which published the White Paper

And further: last year health authorities detected 238 cases of female genital mutilation in the country. Each year more cases are identified. The identification occurred in several areas: pregnancy checks, childbirth, hospital and primary health care consultations. The victims were from Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

The United Nations assume that there are 4.4 million girls at risk of genital mutilation, the equivalent of more than 1200 cases per day.
Only a quarter of the survivors of genital mutilation had contact with a health professional.

It is estimated that in Portugal some 6500 women – mostly from Guinea-Bissau -are victims of a practice that is ‘a flagrant violation of human rights with permanent damage to the physical and mental health and a terrible act of gender-based violence.’

Currently, there are only three specific support offices for victims of harmful practises such as child, early or forced marriages and female genital mutilation, the National Center for Migrant Integration Support (CNAIM) in Lisbon, the Algarve and the north of the country


Enjoy the week            Approveite a semana               (pic Público/Sapo)

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Santa

Europe’s oldest ceramics factory

The Sant’Anna factory – established in 1741 – is Europe’s oldest ceramics factory, renowned for producing traditional Portuguese hand-painted tiles (azulejos) and ceramics, using entirely handcrafted methods.

Sant’Anna was born in the neighbourhood of Lapa and initially produced bricks. In 1755, after the apocalyptic earthquake (terramoto) – that completely whipped out the lowest part of the capital – the factory began to produce tiles to cover the facades of the buildings and help in the rehabilitation of the capital.

It’s been 125 years since the factory moved to Calçada de Boa Hora in the Ajuda district, a clayey area where the raw material was easily extracted and where the artisanal production of tiles and ceramics could be continued.

‘Our collections, nowadays, are mainly reproductions of the 18th century’, says Mariana Felício, graphic designer in the newspaper Público, ‘but of course we do everything the client wants because when we talk about manual work, we can make things a machine cannot.’

For the production of the traditional Portuguese tiles -without relief – a roller, a mold, and a knife are used. ‘The process is similar to that of making Christmas cookies’, says Mariana. ‘With the roller, the clay is pressed on the table, placed in an eight-millimetre gauge, which is the thickness of the traditional tile, and cut one by one with our square mold and knife.

After four to six weeks of drying, the tiles are ready to go the oven for a first two-day cooking at 1100 °C.  After cooling down the next stap is made by a single person, who focuses on listening to the tiles one by one to find out if the tile is good or not to be glazed and painted, explains Mariana.

‘To do this, you hit the tile with a small piece of wood. If a metallic noise sounds, the tile is in good condition. On the other hand, if the tile has a more hollow sound, it means there are air bubbles inside that can lead to breaking in the next cooking step.’

‘Sometimes, the artist works seven, eight hours just on one tile. What happens is that we will waste eight hours of the artist’s work if the tile is not good. That’s why it is important to do this type of – most traditional and original possible – test before proceeding to glazing, painting and firing up the oven again.’

Today, 85% of the production is exported abroad, mainly to the US. In addition to private customers – who make up the majority – the factory also works with architects and interior designers on projects such as hotels ( the Ritz, for example) and requalification of buildings.  

Visitors can observe artisans crafting tiles using traditional techniques and purchase pieces ranging from classic 18th century designs to contemporary styles. The factory (www.santanna.com.pt) also offers tile painting classes.

Enjoy your week                             Approveite a semana

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