An aerial circus show featuring six women and two men debuted in Niteroi city, Brazil, aiming to draw public attention to the pervasive issue of violence against women in the country. The piece, titled “Alone we are petals, together we are roses,” was created by Juliana Berti Abduch, herself a survivor, as part of her “Suspended Circus Acrobatics” project. The performance is a powerful allegory: it begins with a female character being knocked to the ground by male artists, but concludes with her reappropriating her body, finding physical strength, and returning on even higher stilts, symbolizing growth and female solidarity.
The artistic initiative arrives at a critical time, as a 2025 report by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety revealed that more than one in three women in Brazil was a victim of sexual or gender-based violence over the course of a year, the highest rate recorded since 2017. Alarming statistics, such as a woman being raped every six minutes in Brazil last year, are broadcast during the performance to underscore the gravity of the crisis.For the artists, many of whom are victims themselves, participation in the project is deeply healing and empowering. Artist Rosa Caitanya Hamilton Azevedo said, “After we go through all of this, we grow even more. We become stronger.” The project intentionally moves away from sadness, aiming to “hold onto hope that the future will be better,” by using art and sport as concrete strategies to combat violence and achieve women’s empowerment.
