|
{mosimage}In Brazil, every 15 seconds, a woman suffers violence in the home. Yet, Brazil is the only Latin American country that does not have a specific law regarding domestic violence.
A study prepared by the Perseu Abramo Foundation in 2003 indicates that 2.1 million Brazilian women suffer from domestic violence (beatings, spankings, physical torture, rape) each year.
Seventy percent of the aggressors in these cases are husbands or boyfriends of the victims. A woman is much safer on the street than in her own home.
The current Brazilian decree (9.099/95) that deals with domestic violence also covers other civil and criminal acts that are considered of "less gravity".
These crimes are handled by special criminal judgeships set up in the country and the focus is on reconciliation of the parties involved.
Domestic violence is treated as a "minor potential offense" and the violence is classified as "light" if it results in serious consequences for the victim for up to 20 days (hospitalization, inability to work, etc.).
The victim is then pressured by negotiators to reconcile with the aggressor so that the process can be quickly closed.
Many women arrive at these hearings without any legal advocate or information. Even if a woman does go forward with the process, very few cases result in a fair judgment.
The aggressors who are punished usually pay a small fine or do some community service work. This sense of impunity contributes to the increased growth in domestic violence in the country.
One of the few cases that did go to court and was prosecuted still is held up in the court system. It is the case of Maria da Penha, whose ex-husband tried to kill her after years of battering her and their children.
As a result of the homicide attempt, Maria da Penha is today a paraplegic (irreversible) and, because of serious other wounds from the violence, has very poor health.
Even though her ex-husband was condemned two times in a jury trial and given a sentence of 10 years and 6 months in prison, the case is paralyzed in the Justice Tribunal in the state of Ceará, awaiting the appeal process.
This case resulted in international attention and was brought to the OAS (Organization of American States) in 2001 where Brazil was strongly condemned for negligence and omission in the area of domestic violence. Yet, Maria da Penha's ex-husband continues to be free.
Maria wrote a book, "Survived, I Can Tell", in which she denounces the impunity and the slowness of the justice system, that after 20 years, still has not effectively processed this case.
According to Amnesty International, one billion women, or 1/3 of the women in the world, have suffered physical or sexual violence or some other type of abuse.
The Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights (CLADEM) indicates that for every five days that women are absent from work, one of those days missed is due to the violence in their own homes.
A woman abused by domestic violence loses one year of healthy life for every five years of her life. In Latin America, domestic violence lowers the Gross Domestic Product by 14.6%, or US$ 170 billion.
Proposal for a New Law Related to Domestic Violence:
For years, social movements, human rights organizations, and women's groups have been calling for a specific law dealing with domestic violence.
Groups like the São Paulo Forum Against Violence and others throughout the country have made various proposals.
A new bill being discussed proposes that domestic violence against women be defined as any action or conduct based in gender relations that causes death, damage, or physical, sexual or psychological suffering.
It determines that domestic violence cases will be judged in courts that will be established to deal with Domestic and Family Violence Against Women.
The proposed law stipulates that women have the right to services in the health system and that public policies should stipulate integrated actions to prevent and eradicate domestic violence against women.
It also determines that women in these situations should have easy and efficient access to the police, professionals trained to deal with domestic violence, and the free services of a public defender.
This proposed law is one step to combat the problem of domestic violence; however, the issue of protection for women who denounce domestic violence as well as impunity for the aggressors still remain to be resolved.
SEJUP - Brazilian Service of Justice and Peace - www.sejup.org
|
Many of my acquaintance were murders by the wives or the boy friend of the wife. One day my wife told me to pick up my daughter, when I arrived there, her boy friend pointed me a gun. He did not kill me because my ex father in law saw the situation and yell with him. After such experience a lot people advised me to forget this child. Even in the court the Judge asked to my ex-wife leave the room and told me. For now on forget that you had a child with this woman. Since them, I try to keep communication with my daughter; I hope that she does not marry because she as bully teenager girl and she will make anyone unhappy around her. In the school she uses to call teacher stupid, idiot, ends the class work before everybody and start to tease the classmates. I called her and when I spoke about her attitude she said f**k you and turned off the phone.
Before left Brazil I spoke with a Cop Woman in Brazil in a Bus Station for a couple of hours. She told me that all efforts to protect women against violence in Brazil are bulls**t. Waist of public money, the woman Friday evening start to annoy the husband, when is 10 or 11 pm the man is already upset and then he beat the wife. She calls the police, the man is arrested. Monday morning he is released once he needs to work. Then she can go to dance and f**k around Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while the miserable husband is Jailed.
Brazilian women cop, during the day is cop and prostitute during the night. I had some dates with such kind of women and I knew their world. Even some states end the program of hiring women to use in the police because was so many problems.
I was born and I grew up in Brazil. Do not come and tell me that Brazilian women are abused. I saw with my eyes since I was a child; the husband goes to work and out from front door while the lover comes to back door. And such behaviour happens in all levels of Brazilian society. Some Brazilian women are so hot that while the husband is working they are f**king with teenagers of 12 years old on.
I have a brother which is now retired from the marines; his relationship with his wife was so terrible that the marines demanded divorce. If a military organization demands the divorce from his men, something is going very bad in this country.
And if you still thinking that Brazilian women are abuse, I would like that my mom could come from the cave and marry you for you to feel what a Brazilian woman is. Good luck with your endeavour to defend what does not need to be defending.
Note: There are some good women in Brazil. It is difficult to find but if you search carefully in 20 years you can find a fistfull of them.