The creation ofMaria da Penha Law, two decades ago, represented a fundamental step forward in the fight againstviolence against womenand paved the way for significant changes in legislation, such as the definition of feminicide, which would occur a few years later, in 2015. In the legal realm, it established the protective measureurgent interim measurecrucial for preventing the escalation of cycles of violence against women that would end in death.
Lawyer Carmen Raide Campos recalls that before, assaults were treated as minor offenses, leading to frustrating hearings where invalid legal agreements, known at the time as "terms of good living," were made.
"We, as advocates for the women we served, also felt great indignation. Because if he committed the crime again, nothing would happen, as this 'term of good living' had no practical or legal viability," Campos explains how the former reality left victims without support.
The expert emphasizes that the true spirit of the legislation lies in accommodation, prevention, and comprehensive assistance. For Carmen Raide Campos, focusing solely on increasing penalties and incarceration, without strengthening an integrated inter-institutional network that ensures work, housing, and education for the children of victims, is not enough to stop violence in isolation.
"When the Maria da Penha Law proposes hybrid courts, it is saying: 'Look, there is a phenomenon, domestic and family violence against women, that cannot be resolved by one branch of the law. It needs to be thought outside the rigid box of the law,'" she argues.
However, Carmen Raide Campos cites that one of the main barriers to this understanding is precisely penal populism, which has strong adherence in circles of the extreme right. She observes that this purely punitive discourse often finds echo in society, leading the conservative field to "seize the agenda." "The only alternative they offer is punishment," she highlights.
The lawyer assesses that if only punishment were sufficient, the law on femicide would be an efficient barrier. "Femicide is an autonomous criminal type with an extremely high penalty, and femicides are not stopping," she continues, emphasizing that this fact demonstrates the urgent need to combine punishment with robust preventive and assistance policies. "Violence against women is not a women's task, it is a state's task and the task of state organizations," she points out.
Campos emphasizes the importance of racializing the debate and also understanding that to eradicate violence against women, deep cultural transformations are necessary, which find a fundamental space for state and collective action in schools. The lawyer advocates for the effective implementation of Article 8 of the law, which provides for gender and race discussions in curricula at all educational levels to deconstruct structural machismo. "I wish Article 8 of the Maria da Penha Law were truly a reality. And that today's youth grow up in this debate and in the future do not tolerate this violence, but become defenders of equality," she concludes.
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