Brazil Strengthens Protections for Women through New Law

The proposed new law increases the safeguards afforded to women and the punishment, as cases of gender-based violence have been on the rise in Brazil.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed a fresh law strengthening the defenses against women that experience gender-based violence in the country following countrywide outrage over a rise in brutality. The law, which was published in the official gazette, authorizes judges to suspend ownership of firearms, expel abusers out of homes of victims, limit interactions, and place ankle monitors on offenders.

The bill also hikes the punishment on child rape to 15 to 18 years maximum sentence, and where the child is raped and killed, 30 to 40 years maximum sentence. Activists were glad about the law but emphasized the necessity of more funding of prevention and support services.

The shock cases in recent times, such as the murder of the English teacher Catarina Kasten and the violent beating of Taynara Souza Santos, have escalated the need to be held accountable and more forceful in the institution. The Brazilian Forum on Public Safety reported that in 2018, over one out of three women in Brazil had been victims of sexual or gender-based violence, and this is the highest number it has ever recorded.

In the last ten years, Brazil has legislated several changes aimed at reducing violence against women, such as the recognition of femicide in 2015 and the enactment of stronger sentencing laws in 2024. Nevertheless, scholars claim that punitive reforms cannot be used alone. They note that to prevent effectively, it is necessary to educate people, allocate more funds, and improve justice and social-service professionals in their training.

With mounting pressure on the movement, the campaigners demand that the new law be accompanied by sustained investment so that it can realistically decrease violence and rebrand the structural issues that have haunted Brazil for a long time.