In its policy of valuing delivery people, iFood, a Brazilian technology company, found a respectful partnership in combating discrimination to these professionals: Black Sisters in Law.
It is side by side with this non-profit organization that iFood started to offer, in June, a support center to provide legal and psychological support to delivery drivers who face situations of discrimination and violence.
After complaint to iFood, these cases are now assisted by Black Sisters in Law, a global association of black lawyers who work in various areas of Law.
The organization was founded in 2022, in Rio, by Rio de Janeiro lawyer Dione Assis. And its organic growth, since then, clearly shows how necessary the group is for the causes it sets out to defend.
Black Sisters in Law emerged in May 2022, when Dione needed to bring together black lawyers to participate in an IWIRC conference – an international networking organization for women working in the areas of insolvency and company restructuring, a “niche” and very specific area of the law. Right.
Initially, the founder set up a group on WhatsApp with two other lawyers to exchange ideas with a view to participating in the congress. One of these colleagues ended up asking for her intern to be added to help with the shared content.
“It was then that I had the idea of inviting seven other black friends of mine to join the group, and each time a colleague joined, I called others”, says Dione.
This organic character remains in the project: “One sister invites another sister”, defines the founder. According to her, on the second day of the group, there were already more than 100 lawyers connected. Today, the number exceeds 1,500 professionals.
In October last year, the project was presented to a group of directors and legal directors of companies as a network of black legal entrepreneurs able to provide support in due diligence. At that time, the Sisters already had 600 lawyers.
From then on, partnerships were formed with companies, institutions and offices with a focus on the main objective of Black Sisters: that its members “have access to opportunities to provide legal services”, emphasizes Dione. This can happen through direct hiring of lawyers or in the form of project partnerships.
The work done in conjunction with iFood involves the association's criminal lawyers – there are around 180 professionals.
The person who formed the bridge for the partnership between iFood and Black Sisters was the company's VP of social impact, Luana Ozemela. The company knew it needed to have a more effective response, in addition to public communications, to inhibit cases of discrimination and violence against delivery drivers.
“Luana was already following the project and saw it as an opportunity to give iFood partners a solution for their discriminatory contexts that they have been experiencing very frequently”, emphasizes Dione.
“Advocating for your own”
The founder of Black Sisters highlights that delivery drivers are often unable to afford legal services. “iFood carried out an unprecedented initiative to make a network available to these professionals in situations of discrimination of any nature”, he adds.
“The highlight is that iFood could hire any law firm to provide this service, but it closed with an association of black women who know about the matter, who are involved with the cause and who experience discrimination”, he highlights. “It’s very comforting for them to know that they are there advocating for their loved ones.”
In this sense, the partnership even has a “very strong public policy impact”, assesses Dione. “In some way, the cases that are analyzed and defended by Black Sisters in Law will generate important data, content and information to identify how the issue is handled by police stations throughout Brazil.”
Thus, based on this data, it will be possible to submit to the public authorities “suggestions for necessary changes to better serve victims”, considers the founder of Black Sisters.
This is an evolution whose need grows with the perception that discrimination against delivery drivers involves factors not only racial, but also gender, ageism, ableism and even in relation to the type of work performed, which is often undervalued by people.
“The project with iFood is an opportunity to bring all of this to light, enabling formal complaints and punishments for aggressors”, reinforces Dione.
The psychological assistance – three therapy sessions – and legal assistance that Black Sisters provides to couriers is completely free.
In the legal sphere, support is provided to record the incident and continues until the investigation is completed at the police station. But, according to Dione, there is provision for judicial assistance, so that the lawyer can “take the appropriate legal measures to compensate for the moral damage suffered and for the aggressor to be criminally punished for what he committed”.
Empowerment on multiple fronts
If, for iFood delivery people, the project of the psychological and legal support center offers a path to justice against discrimination, for the black lawyers at Black Sisters in Law, the chance is to “practice the profession while being remunerated with the value of market and for a cause that is so dear to us, but so neglected by the Justice system as a whole”, says Dione.
More than providing fair work opportunities for members, the mission of Black Sisters in Law, in the vision of its founder, is to “create black legal references”, in addition to combating the precariousness of the work of black lawyers.
The organization even offers these professionals mental health programs, with psychologists and mentors, and career empowerment, with former French consul Alexandra Loras.
“What I propose is that society in general, companies and offices get to know these women and provide them with opportunities to practice law with dignity”, concludes Dione. “That’s what iFood is doing.”
