Maria de Penha and the Women’s Police Station

Today I had the amazing opportunity to learn about domestic violence in Brazil and how Maria de Penha and the feminist movement helped create the Women’s Police Station. The captain, Alcilene Coutinho, told us the somber story of how Maria de Penha became who she is today. Her husband, Marco Antonio Heredia Viveiros, was a professor who attempted to kill her twice. He shot her while she was sleeping the first time and survived. The second time, he tried to electrocute her while she was taking a shower. He was unsuccessful, but Penha was left paraplegic because of these attacks. She later began a legal process against him with the Federal Court of Brazil, but it was appealed and overturned. A new trial was held with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Viveiros was finally sentenced to eight years in prison. However, he was only jailed for two years and released in 2002. He is currently a free man. Because the Federal Court of Brazil overturned the case, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ended up publishing a report that blamed the Brazilian government of negligence and omission regarding domestic violence. For the first time in history, domestic violence was considered a crime. A new law was then put into place, named after Maria de Penha, herself. The law, Law Maria de Penha, “increased the severity of punishment for domestic violence against women, whenever it occurred in a domestic or family environment.”

So, why is domestic violence so prominent in today’s society? Coutinho said something that stood out to me, “domestic violence happens at all societal levels—whether you’re poor or rich, black or white, you can be a victim.” With this in mind, society has created power dynamics through gender. These characteristics are shown in any societal level. Men are attributed with force and strength, while women are attributed with fertility and sweetness. When the differences end equality, we have a problem. We need to confront society’s impact on characterizing genders to end domestic violence. However, it’s a lot more complicated than that. This is where the Women’s Police Station and feminist movement come in. With the rising popularity for gender equality, the feminist movement broke through. This led to the creation of the Women’s Police Station, which would directly help with gender inequality issues (domestic violence). There are five types of domestic violence: physical, psychological, moral, financial, and sexual. The Women’s Police Station helps victims of these different types of domestic violence and help with so much more. Once a woman denounces her aggressor, the Women’s Police Station will help her go to a judge and get a protective order. They also make sure the order is an effective order. They will frequently contact women, visit periodically, and support them in the court system. They even have activities for men such as group meetings. The Women’s Police Station has helped more than 5,000 women since 2015 in 15 different cities in Brazil so far. They have done such a good job at being part of the system to help confront domestic violence and I hope they succeed in so much more.

Maria de Penha

Talk with Alcilene Coutinho