This photograph was taken on 9th June 2026, the day the National Council of Justice voted on a technical recommendation aimed at improving access to the reparation benefit for families affected by congenital Zika syndrome in Brazil. In the image are judges, members of the Cravinas and Anis teams, and women from UNIZIKA, including Germana and Alessandra, gathered around [ainda], the exhibition they brought to the Council. (Photo by Luiz Silveira, National Council of Justice Conselho Nacional de Justiça (CNJ).

After the approval of the reparation law in June 2025, many families faced significant barriers in accessing the benefit. Requests for additional medical reports and documentation prolonged waiting times and left many women navigating a system that often fails to account for the urgency of their lives.

The exhibition offered an opportunity to bring those experiences into the space where institutional decisions were being made. Chief Justice Edson Fachin visited the exhibition and spoke directly with the women. Their stories, photographs, objects, and memories became part of a conversation about access to rights and the challenges families continue to face after the law's approval.

It was also a reminder that art can create encounters that would otherwise not happen. It can bring communities into dialogue with institutions, translate lived experience into a language that reaches decision-makers, and make visible realities that often remain distant from centres of power. A short time later, Cryslane—one of the women portrayed in the exhibition—received the letter informing her that her benefit had finally been approved.