There is a lack of protection against domestic violence in small towns, says Maria da Penha.

From Brasil de Fato - The fight against domestic violence and femicide in Brazil is supported, among other legislation, by the Maria da Penha Law, which came into effect in August 2006. Law 11.340/06 was named after the Ceará-born pharmaceutical biotechnician Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes.

In 1983, Maria da Penha was shot by her violent husband and became paraplegic, forcing her to interrupt her professional career. Furthermore, she endured an intense routine of physical and psychological abuse. There was another attempted murder a few years later when her husband tried to electrocute her in the bathtub while she was bathing. 

The long story of suffering was told in the book "I Survived... I Can Tell My Story," published in 1994 by Maria da Penha, after she finally obtained a conviction against her ex-husband who caused severe harm to her and her daughters.

Even after Maria da Penha's fight for freedom and dignity, many years passed before the law protecting women victims of violence was approved. And even today, despite the law being in effect, women in all regions of Brazil and from all social classes are victims of abuse daily. Check out Maria da Penha's interview on Rádio Brasil de Fato. 

Radio Brasil de Fato – The law is about to turn 12 years old. How have you observed the fight against violence against women during this period? 

Maria da Penha – Indeed, since 2013, when all Brazilian state capitals have committed to creating public policies to protect women from violence and punish aggressors, this has actually happened in all capitals, but unfortunately, on the other hand, few medium and small municipalities manage to have this structure. 

This means that there is a lack of commitment from the managers of these [small and medium-sized] municipalities to support women and create these public policies.

The result is that women remain without assistance, not knowing where to seek help. The only help I usually offer, then, is to call 180. It's a hotline that operates 24 hours a day, every day of the week, to guide them to the nearest place where they can access legal resources.

Regarding public policies, beyond the reporting process, is there a support network for women after they file a complaint?

These public policies, which make the law effective, include the Women's Referral Center, the Women's Police Station, the Shelter, and the Court. We also have partnerships with the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Public Defender's Office, so these policies are extremely important, and a woman will only be able to escape a difficult situation, such as domestic violence, when she is supported by the State and the Municipality. They have an obligation to implement these public policies.

Is it still difficult to understand that moral and psychological violence are also forms of aggression?

Yes, they are as well. That's why it's always requested that there be dissemination through posters and brochures, informing about the types of violence that women can experience in a relationship, right?

Property violence is one example. It's rarely mentioned, but it's when a man prevents a woman from working or studying. Often, he tears up her work materials when she insists on having a profession. This type of property violence leads to many conflicts and is one form of violence, along with psychological and moral abuse. Women generally don't realize they are suffering violence.

A 2017 DataFolha survey indicates that only 11% of women who experienced violence sought help from a Women's Police Station. Why does this situation exist?

This situation exists primarily because, many times, the woman lives in a cycle of domestic violence where she hopes her husband will change. Sometimes, he even promises to do so.

Secondly, women don't seek to report the abuse because they don't know where to find a Women's Police Station or a Referral Center to guide them and direct them to a police station. 

What is the law like in the countryside?

We work to bring visibility to the issue of how hospitals operate in small municipalities. There are large municipalities that have a hospital structure with greater resources and serve the population of nearby municipalities, so that people can be treated in those surrounding municipalities. And if necessary, they can be transferred from a small municipality to a large one where there is a hospital with more resources. That's how we want it to work.

In this large municipality, there is a Women's Police Station, a Court, and a Shelter. And in smaller municipalities, there should be structured Women's Referral Centers. Depending on the population size, there may be more than one Women's Referral Center.

There are draft bills that seek to change the Maria da Penha Law; what is their status?

Regarding these projects, I can say the following: the Maria da Penha Law doesn't need any projects to modify it; what it needs is action from public administrators to make it work. The moment it starts functioning, as is happening in the capital cities, the law is already considered one of the best in the world. There has been a great deal of publicity and a great demand for information as well.

I myself have assisted several people from other countries who came here to Brazil to see what it's like. There's really no need for change; the important thing is that each administration becomes aware of its role in implementing this law and makes it happen.

Regarding the research, 76% of women feel that violence has increased. Does this happen in practice? Is the situation worse than we imagine if we consider that many women are not included in this research?

Yes, because there's the following issue. Public policies were created, but proper attention wasn't given to them, and often a particular public policy ceases to exist in that municipality because there wasn't investment to ensure its continuation.

For example, let's say a police station, like what happened in my state, Ceará, a part of the Women's Police Station collapsed, and this station, which was already well-known to the population, started operating inside another police station in another neighborhood, and this meant that women no longer knew where to seek help.

Fortunately, a public policy was created that is truly of great importance to the situation of domestic violence: the Casa da Mulher Brasileira (Brazilian Women's House). But just yesterday, I learned that the Casa da Mulher Brasileira in Brasília is closed down because they found something and shut it down. So what now? How long will it remain like this?

Can you leave a message?

I want to say this: We, women in social movements, in movements confronting violence, have already gone through many difficult phases in implementing this law, and we are still facing challenges.

But the important thing is for us to always be united and to report, through the hotline 180, the places where the law doesn't work, the absurdities that politicians commit regarding the creation of these resources. Often lacking structure and without training for the people who assist women who are victims of violence.

And that all women, if they are not part of the women's movement, at least continue to report so that activists can carry this fight forward, to improve the situation regarding the application of the Maria da Penha Law.