The All-female collective Rede Nami based in Brazil is empowering women through Graffiti. Pictures and more information inside.

Interview by Marisa Benjamin aka Skeczh for the FatCap Team. Pictures by Rede Nami collective.

Unlike many countries, Brazil views its walls as a canvas for the people, a forum for artistic expression and social change. Through the seemingly endless ocean of color that makes up most of Rio de Janeiro, one group paints with a mission. The all-female street art collective known as Rede Nami uses street art and graffiti to empower women.

While women have the same constitutional rights as men in Brazil, gender equality has failed to fully cement itself in Brazilian culture. Brazil is ranked one of the worst countries for women to live in, according to the Washington Post. According to Brazil’s 2011 Annual Report on Women, 43.1 percent of women have suffered some sort of domestic violence.

Many young, urban female artists were concerned about the growing culture of gender inequality instilled amongst its nation’s youth. Recent political policies have failed to fix the growing problem in Brazil. So, these artists took to the streets, using spray paint and blank walls as their sword.

Panmela Castro, who paints under the name Anarkia, founded Rede Nami in 2006 to unite these women to a single goal.

Through her efforts, she has been awarded the Vital Voices Global Leadership Award and the Prize Hutúz graffiti artist of the decade. She recently hosted a TED Talk to explain how street art can be a vehicle for change and was chosen as one of the 150 fearless women by Newsweek.

Today, Rede Nami actively travels Brazil, painting inspirational murals in some of the nation’s poorest and most dangerous areas. The women of Rede Nami also host many workshops for young girls, teaching them basic female rights and of course how to express themselves through art.