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Brazil's leader urges men to treat women as equals

Brazil's socialist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joked on Tuesday about women's increasingly more important role in politics and society and said he hoped they would not set their eyes on the presidency.

"Women are already the majority of Brazil's population, with 52 percent of the population," he said. "You already have posts as council members, mayors, governors, and I hope you don't start to think, of course, about the presidency."

Lula's words came at an event at a landless people's settlement to mark International Women's Day.

In the "serious" part of his speech, Lula called on Brazilian men to contribute to gender equality.

"It is not enough that it is written in the law, it is not enough that it is written in the Constitution that women must be treated on equal terms," Lula said. "We know that women still receive half the salary men do for the same service."

"We [men] must demonstrate every day that we really want the freedom of women," he said. "We must demonstrate it every day if we are companions of women, or if, when it's time to do household chores, we stay sitting in front of the television."
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