April 7, 2022

10:04

Priscilla Peixoto – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – “It is a relevant progress and it was about time. We must protect any woman who goes through this process of violence in the family and domestic environment. It is their right, which is now guaranteed by law. The statement is from the head of the Specialized Crimes Against Women Police Station (DECCM), Débora Mafra, about the decision of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), on Tuesday, 5th, to apply the Maria da Penha Law, number 11.340, 2006, in favor of transsexual women victims of domestic violence.

The protection was unanimously granted by the 6th Panel of the STJ and will no longer be limited to the woman’s biological condition. One of the points that contributed to the decision was the protective measure denied by the judiciary of the State of São Paulo to a trans woman victim of aggression by her own father for not accepting the gender of his daughter. Although the case has gone to the STJ and from now on will apply to lower courts throughout the Brazilian judiciary, delegate Débora Mafra says that, in Manaus, the norm already embraced trans women.

“What happens is that we had isolated decisions of interpretation. Here, in Amazonas, the women’s police stations with the special courts for domestic and family violence understood that the trans woman has the right to protection, yes. Because when we read the Maria da Penha Law, it says that it protects the female gender, regardless of whether she was biologically born a woman”, emphasizes the delegate.

“In the rest of Brazil, in general, it was not understood this way. There were some states that accepted it, but most didn’t and this discussion remained, but finally the STJ decided in an unprecedented way that a woman can apply for the Maria da Penha Law at any district or women’s police station when she is a victim of domestic and family violence,” she explains.

Guidelines

For the rapporteur of the case, Minister Rogerio Schietti, it is necessary to differentiate the concept of gender and sex. The minister also noted the need for better understanding of the terms transgender, transsexual, cisgender and transvestite, pointing out that in the legal-penal and criminological sphere in the country this issue is still in its “beginner” mode.

“The concept of gender cannot be employed without knowing exactly what it means and in such a way that it ends up unprotecting precisely who the Maria da Penha Law should protect: women, children, youth, adults or the elderly, and in this case, transgendered women as well,” Schietti stated.

Antra

Last Tuesday night, the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (Antra) spoke out after the STJ decision, through Instagram. ” Important achievement for trans women,” it declared, highlighting the dossier prepared by Antra itself and was referenced by the rapporteur on the importance of recognizing the gender violence that reaches said group of women.

“There should be no difference between cis and trans women in matters of rights and the protection against gender-motivated violence. Art. 2 of the Maria da Penha Law: Every woman enjoys fundamental rights, being assured opportunities and facilities to live without violence, preserve her physical and mental health and her moral, intellectual and social improvement. Including trans women!” the association captioned.

Maria da Penha Law

The Maria da Penha Law completed 15 years in 2021 and has a multidisciplinary character aiming to protect women who live in situations of family and domestic violence, with the provision for trial by the Specialized Domestic Violence Court, which was created with the Maria da Penha Law.

The law received its name because of the life story and aggressions suffered by the nurse Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes. Maria was married to economist Marco Antônio, had three daughters, and lived a marriage marked by aggressions and successive attempts of homicide, including a shot in the spine with a rifle, when she was 38 years old, leaving her paraplegic.

After countless attempts to prove the actions, Maria da Penha could not resign herself to the fact that the economist was tried and convicted twice and went free after filing appeals. The fight for justice continued and, in 2001, Brazil was condemned for negligence and omission for delaying in punishing the aggressor by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS).

In August 2006, finally, the then president Lula sanctioned the Law 11.340, in honor of Maria’s struggle and the woman’s sense of justice, which did not remain silent before the aggressor. The norm is recognized by the United Nations (UN) as one of the three best laws to combat violence against women.

Do not be silent, denounce!

Reports of cases of domestic violence can be made by the victim, family and friends, through the numbers 180, the Women’s Call Center, and by 181, the Amazonas Department of Public Safety (SSP). In emergency cases, the request for help can be made directly through 190. The data of the whistleblower is kept confidential.

Read the full vote of Minister Rogerio Schietti.