Domestic Violence

“The thing I like about Pathways is the impact it can have on people’s lives; it is not just doing studies for academics,but changing people’s lives. I think Pathways has improvedpeople’s lives a lot. This is the beauty of it. The Maria daPenha observatory, for example, is actually making the Maria da Penha law on domestic violence happen.People are really using it. You have a law, but it is only an advisory law. We need the observatory to make thelaw work – to track in which cities the law is really being applied and how it’s being applied.” Lea Santana,masters student, Federal University of Bahia (formerly Latin America Hub Communications Officer)

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What we didA project, backed by the Pathways ofWomen’s Empowerment programme, called the Maria da Penha Law ObservatoryConsortium (OBSERVE), was launched in2006 in order to ensure the adequate andefficient implementation of the law. The consortium consists of feministorganizations and university researchcentres focusing on gender studies, whichmonitor the application of the law in 27Brazilian states.

OBSERVE, coordinated by NEIM/UFBA,conducted research in six cities andrevealed that, almost two years since theintroduction of the new legislation, progresshas been slow towards its completeimplementation. OBSERVE then extendedresearch to include all state capitals,collating information from the ‘PoliceStations for Assaulted Women’ (DEAMs)and the Domestic Violence Courts.

A UNIFEM grant allowed OBSERVE toconduct a study of the network of stateservices provided to assaulted women in fourstate capitals: Salvador, Belém, Porto Alegre,and Rio de Janeiro as well as Brasília, theFederal District. This grant also facilitated asurvey across nine Brazilian cities of womenwho have experienced domestic violence andused DEAMs.

Key findingsThis work represents the first greatachievement of feminist and women’smovements in Brazil towardsuniversalizing women’s rights to a lifewithout violence.

For women suffering in violent domesticsituations, access to formal justice formsonly part of the solution. Not only is theformation of inter-sectoral and integratedpolicies essential, but women should alsohave access knowledge building andempowering information on their rights.

A number of problems obstruct thedesired application of the law. Forexample, there is a lack of data and anincompatibility of existing information on cases, important for statisticalcalculations. This is mainly due to a lackof training and knowledge of the law andrecord-keeping procedures amongofficials and clerical workers.

PHOTOS: NEIM

Women’s organizing is vital for publicizing theharmful nature of domestic violence and forformulating and monitoring domestic violencelegislation. Donors should support feministorganizations and initiatives to confrontdomestic violence.

Comprehensive legislation packages areneeded to confront domestic violence againstwomen. They should include punitive,protective and preventive measures andprovisions for the monitoring of legislationimplementation.

Effectiveness of domestic violence legislationdepends on appropriate training of all serviceproviders, cross-agency coordination, publicopinion support, monitoring of policies byCivil Society Organizations, and adequatebudgets at all levels (local, state, and federal).

Action pointsPolice stations for women, which havespecialist training in dealing with domesticabuse, should be available 24 hours a day.They should be well resourced in terms ofproperly trained staff and able to deal withwomen of all ages.

It is not enough just to enact a law – it mustbe properly publicized and the provisionsclearly explained to all citizens.

Domestic violence is multi-faceted, complexand devastating to women. It demandsappropriate legislation to confront it andremove pressure from the victims.

Key resources OBSERVE has launched the series Cadernos do OBSERVE to publish articles and theresults of studies and surveys. There are 1,000 issues of the first two publications in theseries and 400 of each were distributed for free during the Fazendo Gênero 9 meetings.Copies were also sent to DEAMs and Domestic Violence Courts in Brazil and universityresearch centres. www.observe.ufba.br

Sardenberg, C. (2011) ‘What Makes Domestic Violence Legislation More Effective?’,Pathways Policy Paper,www.observe.ufba.brwww.pathwaysofempowerment.org/Domestic_Violence_Policy_Paper.pdf

Sardenberg, C., Gomes, M.Tavares, M. and Pasinato,W. (2010)Domestic Violence and Women’s Access to Justice in Brazil,Background paper to UNIFEM’s Progress of the World’s Women and Access to Justice Report, www.pathways-of-empowerment.org/ AccesstoJustice.pdf

This case study is based on research carried out by the Pathways of Women’s EmpowermentResearch Programme Consortium, supported primarily by UKAid from the Department forInternational Development (DFID), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the SwedishMinistry for Foreign Affairs, UNIFEM (now UN Women), and Sida. The views andrecommendations here do not necessarily represent those of our development partners or funders.

Contact: pathways@ids.ac.uk More information: www.pathways-of-empowerment.org

Maria’s storyMaria da Penha Maia is a paraplegic, as a result of injuries received from her ex-husband, who tried to kill her on two occasions. Having survived this domestic violenceherself, Maria da Penha became a prominent figure in the movement for women’s rightsin Brazil. In 2006, Brazil’s Maria da Penha Law (named in tribute to her) was firstsanctioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The law aims to prevent and combatdomestic and family violence against women.

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PHOTO: NEIM

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