The (in) efectiveness of brazilian legislation in preventing lethal violence against women

Abstract

In 2015, the Brazilian Penal Code was changed through Law No. 13,104 with the purpose of adding to its article 121, paragraph 2, the qualifier “Feminicide”, and thereby preventing the deaths of women due to their condition as women. However, through the analysis of statistical data, there is a finding that, even after the entry into force of the aforementioned retro law, the numbers of lethal violence against women, as well as Femicide, are increasing, demonstrating that, in reality, the qualifier mentioned only has a symbolic effectiveness. Thus, this article aims to demonstrate the (in) effectiveness of Brazilian laws in preventing lethal violence against women, seeking viable solutions to combat Femicide in Brazil, so that the qualifier can be really useful, and not only have a figurative, symbolic existence. It should be noted that the study does not aim to criticize the Femicide Law, not least because it constitutes a female victory in the fight against gender violence that falls so much on the Brazilian female population. As a methodology, the qualitative method was used, basing the work on national and foreign doctrines, as well as an analysis of statistical data published by the Atlas of Violence 2019 and by the Violence Monitor, in March 2020, thus seeking a dialogue between the theoretical input and such data. As a result of the investigation, it was possible point out that the simple existence of Law No. 13,104 / 2015, without the existence of public policies that aim to prevent the spread of violence against women, especially in the context of domestic and family violence, makes the rule exist only on the symbolic level, not preventing the practice of the Femicides in Brazil.