Marina Mendes Lemos de Oliveira
Jerry Martin
ENG 108
April 13, 2017
WA8: Violence against Women Should Be Effectively Dealt with in Brazil
Violence against women and girls is a serious violation of human rights. Its impact varies among sexual, mental, and physical consequences including death. It negatively affects women's overall well-being, and it prevents them from fully participating in society. Violence has negative consequences not only for women, but also for their families, community, and for country as a whole. Violence also has huge costs, from health spending and legal expenses to productivity losses, which impact national budgets and global development. Decades of mobilization of civil society and women's movements have put an end …show more content…
Two weeks after this episode, he attempted to kill Maria again by electrocuting her. According to The United Nations (UN) Women, the case waited to be judged in court for more than twenty years, while Maria's husband remained free. “Years later, the Court of Human Rights criticized the Brazilian government for not taking effective measures to prosecute and convict perpetrators of domestic violence. In response to this, the Brazilian government in 2006 enacted a law under the symbolic name ‘Maria da Penha’ Law on Domestic and Family Violence” (UN Women par. 2). However, the issue in Brazil is not the existence of laws to protect women but in their application. The approval of the Maria da Penha Law in 2006 was not enough to prevent an increase in the number of violence crimes and homicides against women in Brazil. The impunity and the low rate of elucidation of homicides in the country, are some of the reasons for this type of assault in Brazil. Lapa stated that, “15 women are killed per day in Brazil, one woman every one and a half hour. It is the so-called gender violence, that perpetrates against women just because they are women” (par. 1). The great advantage of the Maria da Penha Law was the official recognition of the presence of domestic violence in Brazilian domiciles, a subject that was not even spoken deeply before the advent of the law. If it worked right, it would be remarkable law, but it is still not enough. To transform this reality, the change must be cultural and structural, facing the inescapable fact that women are people entitle of freedom and protection as much as
Jerry Martin
ENG 108
April 13, 2017
WA8: Violence against Women Should Be Effectively Dealt with in Brazil
Violence against women and girls is a serious violation of human rights. Its impact varies among sexual, mental, and physical consequences including death. It negatively affects women's overall well-being, and it prevents them from fully participating in society. Violence has negative consequences not only for women, but also for their families, community, and for country as a whole. Violence also has huge costs, from health spending and legal expenses to productivity losses, which impact national budgets and global development. Decades of mobilization of civil society and women's movements have put an end …show more content…
Two weeks after this episode, he attempted to kill Maria again by electrocuting her. According to The United Nations (UN) Women, the case waited to be judged in court for more than twenty years, while Maria's husband remained free. “Years later, the Court of Human Rights criticized the Brazilian government for not taking effective measures to prosecute and convict perpetrators of domestic violence. In response to this, the Brazilian government in 2006 enacted a law under the symbolic name ‘Maria da Penha’ Law on Domestic and Family Violence” (UN Women par. 2). However, the issue in Brazil is not the existence of laws to protect women but in their application. The approval of the Maria da Penha Law in 2006 was not enough to prevent an increase in the number of violence crimes and homicides against women in Brazil. The impunity and the low rate of elucidation of homicides in the country, are some of the reasons for this type of assault in Brazil. Lapa stated that, “15 women are killed per day in Brazil, one woman every one and a half hour. It is the so-called gender violence, that perpetrates against women just because they are women” (par. 1). The great advantage of the Maria da Penha Law was the official recognition of the presence of domestic violence in Brazilian domiciles, a subject that was not even spoken deeply before the advent of the law. If it worked right, it would be remarkable law, but it is still not enough. To transform this reality, the change must be cultural and structural, facing the inescapable fact that women are people entitle of freedom and protection as much as