WUNRN
http://passblue.com/2015/04/08/the-woman-behind-brazils-law-against-domestic-violence/
Via Women’s Feature Service
Brazil – The Woman Behind Brazil’s Tough Domestic Violence Law
Brazilians
demonstrating for equal rights, above. The country now has one of the world’s
toughest antidomestic-violence laws in the world, named after one particular
victim: Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes. WOMEN’S FEATURE SERVICE
FORTALEZA,
Brazil — Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes was
fast asleep when her husband shot her and left her a paraplegic. Four months
later, he made another attempt on her life by trying to electrocute her. Maria
survived yet again.
In thousands
of homes across Brazil, women like her are subjected to extreme abuse by their
husbands every day. Every 15 seconds, a woman is assaulted; every two hours, a
woman is murdered. Sixty-five percent of attacks happen behind closed doors. In
the past three decades, at least 92,000 women have succumbed to domestic
violence.
Maria de
Penha, a pharmacist, beat these dismal odds. She fought a decades-long battle
against domestic violence, and her efforts finally resulted in legislation
named for her. The Maria da Penha Law on Domestic
and Family Violence is considered one of the most comprehensive
laws in the world, giving the government the power to arrest, prosecute and
punish perpetrators of violence against women.
“I met my
aggressor when I was doing my master’s at the University of São Paulo,” Da
Penha recalled. “He was a student from Colombia and was popular with my
friends. When I went back to my hometown, Fortaleza, after completing my
degree, he accompanied me. We got close and I married him. That was when he
applied for Brazilian citizenship and as soon as he got it, he started showing
his true colors.”
It was in May
1983 that her husband, Antonio Heredia Vivero, a teacher, first attempted to
kill her. “I was sleeping when I heard a shot, a very loud noise, in my
bedroom,” she said. “I tried to move but couldn’t.” Neighbors rescued her and
rushed her to a hospital. She was under intensive treatment for nearly four
months.
“When the
police questioned my husband, he told them that four thieves had broken into
our home and that he had fought them off,” she said. “I came back home because
at the time I had no inkling that he was the shooter. But when he kept me in
forced confinement for more than 15 days and tried to electrocute me, I knew I
could not continue with that relationship.” She got a legal separation and, with
her three daughters, returned to her parents’ home.
Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes,
the Brazilian advocate whose husband tried to kill her twice. He ended up in
jail for just two years for his murder attempts.
In January
1984, she filed a case of attempted murder against her former husband. That was
when her battle for justice began. It took seven years before he was sentenced
by a jury to 15 years in prison. The conviction was overturned on appeal. In a
new trial, Vivero was sentenced to 10 years but remained at large.
“I decided to
write a book on my experiences and the contradictions in the legal
proceedings,” she said. “This work, ‘I Survived: I Can Tell My Story’ [“Sobrevivi:
Posso Contra,” in Portuguese], was noticed by two nongovernment organizations,
the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights
and the Center for Justice and International Law, which invited me to submit a
case against Brazil to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the
Organization of American States.”
While Brazil
did not respond to her petition, the Inter-American Commission later
criticized the government for not taking effective measures to prosecute and
convict perpetrators of domestic violence. In October 2002, Vivero was arrested
and sentenced to just over six years on two counts of attempted murder, but he
has served only two.
Meanwhile,
from 2002 to 2004, several nonprofit groups created a consortium to draft an
improved domestic violence law. On Aug. 7, 2006, the Maria da Penha Law was
approved.
“This law is
here to not just protect women from domestic violence but to prevent it and
also punish the aggressors,” said Da Penha, who is wheelchair-bound and working
as a coordinator of studies for the Association of Relatives and Friends of
Victims of Violence in Ceará state in northern Brazil.
“We need more
women’s police stations, centers where survivors can seek preventive help and
shelters for those who have walked out of their homes. In addition, we have to
make sure that speedy trials happen in these cases so that justice is not
delayed. It took 19 years and six months for my case to finally wrap up.”
The Maria da
Penha Law has given new impetus to the women’s movement. The central thought
that every woman has the right to live her life free from domestic violence has
been widely publicized throughout Brazil through lectures, courses and training
conducted within communities, schools, universities, businesses and
institutions.
“Women are
still being murdered within their own homes by those who should be protecting
and loving them,” Da Penha said. Before the law, she added, although domestic
violence was a crime it was considered a low-level offense. That reality has
changed, but more resources are needed, she said, particularly for women living
in small towns, where patriarchy still has a stronghold and there are not
enough women’s police stations or shelters.
“The law talks
of setting up special courts and stricter sentences for offenders, besides
other prevention and relief measures, in cities that have more than 60,000
inhabitants, but what about those living in small cities?” she said. In a
sense, she feels that it’s not a law but a change in attitude of people that
can bring about lasting change.
The beginnings
of a transformation are visible. On the fifth anniversary of the law, the National
Council of Justice of Brazil published data showing positive
results: more than 331,000 prosecutions and 110,000 final judgments, and nearly
two million calls to the Service Center for Women.
Brazil has
started the Women Living Without Violence program, with $265 million in pledges
to integrate public services and create women-friendly policies.
“In a society
fuelled by machismo, there is bound to be a lot of resistance to change,” Da
Penha said. “But I believe that through our work, we can motivate fellow
citizens to fight for women’s rights. We are not silent anymore.”