In Northeast states, Indigenous and quilombola girls travel long distances or depend on unreliable transportation to get to school. Under-funded and overcrowded schools that lack clean water and libraries make learning difficult. While Indigenous people make up only 0.5% of Brazil’s population, they are more than 20% of its illiterate population.

Poverty, crime, domestic work and poor school conditions in urban areas prevent girls from studying. Teen mothers lack support systems to help them stay in school, a significant barrier to learning considering Brazil has the highest rate of child marriage in Latin America and fourth in the world.