The pushing Visible and Invisible: The Victimization of Women in Brazil, from the Brazilian Public Security Forum, indicates that there is an epidemic of violence against women in the country. According to the research, in 2022 there was an increase in all types of violence and more than a third of women in the country suffered physical and/or sexual assault. The recomposition of public policies, emptied in recent years, as well as the fight against the moral panic that curbs discussions about gender, according to researcher at the Center for Gender Studies (Pagu) at Unicamp Regina Facchini, are necessary measures to reverse the setbacks.
In the same way as the research report, Facchini, who is a professor in the Postgraduate Programs in Anthropology and Social Sciences at Unicamp, sees the rise of ultra-conservative groups in Brazilian politics and society as one of the reasons for the increase in violence. Projects such as Escola Sem Partido and the fight against discussions about gender contributed to the worsening of the situation, as well as to intensify the attack on feminist movements.
Ultraconservatives mobilized moral panics
“'Gender ideology' served to mobilize moral panics around this issue. And the way in which the issue of rights was approached, focusing on abstract notions of women, family and children, ended up harming the production of protective public policies”, he analyzes, referring to the term created by neoconservatives to refer to them in a pejorative way to studies and social movements related to gender and sexuality.
She also remembers that ultra-conservative groups, by disqualifying school spaces, minimize the role of schools in identifying aggression against children and adolescents. “The school is a strategic and fundamental element in identification, reporting and prevention. The whole debate about 'gender ideology' has greatly weakened this role.”
The discourse of the family as a place of protection also contrasts with data about the environment in which acts of violence generally occur. In relation to rape of vulnerable people (children aged 0 to 13), the Forum's 2021 research finds that 76,5% of cases occur at home. The criminal is a man in 95,4% of cases and in 82,5% of rapes, a known man, and in 40,8% of these cases the act is committed by the victim's own father or stepfather.
The Public Security Forum's research also reveals the house as a place of violence. More than half of the women (53,8%) who suffered violence indicated that the most serious episodes occurred in the home environment.
In relation to femicides, there was also a record in 2022, with one woman killed every six hours, according to the Forum's Violence Monitor. On the other hand, homicides not related to gender had the lowest rate in the historical series, indicating that Brazil has become less dangerous for the general population, but more dangerous for women.
The fear of revictimization
Despite the high number of women who suffer violence, a total of 45% of them responded that they did nothing after the attack. Only around 30% of them activated some type of police mechanism. According to Facchini, it is likely that this data reflects the fear of retaliation on the part of the perpetrator, the shame in the face of violence and the fear of revictimization in the reporting process – when there are a series of embarrassments for the victims.
“We need to improve the reception of these cases because there is underreporting and part of this phenomenon is related to the fear of revictimization when reporting. There is a tendency to blame the victim. This is something that needs to advance in security policies, with better training of legal operators and the support of society”, he assesses.
Greater preparation is also needed to deal with forms of violence other than physical violence, he says. In the survey, 33,4% of women reported having suffered physical and/or sexual violence, while 32,8% reported having been victims of psychological or verbal violence. According to Facchini, this data may be a reflection of the way society and law enforcement agents perceive violence.
“There is still greater recognition of physical violence, even though psychological violence can cause immense damage to the lives of those who suffer it. Protective measures for physical violence tend to be successful much more quickly than in cases of psychological violence, and the chance of having the act of violence recognized by legal operators, whether by the police or a judge, will greatly influence the possibility whether or not there was a complaint.”
Judicial and Executive activism prevented the realization of rights
One of the impediments to realizing the rights of girls and women, according to the report, was the activism of the Judiciary and the Executive. The professor cites cases of non-observance of the right to abortion in cases of rape and relates them to the conservative positions that have gained ground in politics in recent years.
“When you tell a society that misogyny, LGBTphobia and racism are tolerable, there are repercussions in the Judiciary and non-compliance with the law that allows abortion in cases of rape." Furthermore, he continues, there are also developments in the formation and enhancement of neo-Nazi or misogynist groups, which need to be combated.
Perspectives for stopping the epidemic of violence
For March 8, the current federal government is preparing announcements of public policies aimed at women, which is seen as a positive sign by the professor. Legislation for equal pay, recreation of the Women's Living Without Violence Program and increased Maria da Penha patrols are among the measures. The creation of March 14th as Marielle Franco National Day was also announced, a date to celebrate the fight against political and gender-based violence.
“Any public policy announcement that values women in their diversity is welcome at this time and will have an impact. It is necessary to return to the idea that, yes, it is important to grant rights to people who are most precarious and socially vulnerable and the idea that equity is important.”
Other horizons highlighted by Facchini also include changing processes that lead to underreporting of cases involving black people and data dealing with racism and LGBTphobia, including lesbian, bisexual and trans women, as well as controlling the possession of firearms, which facilitates femicides.
The professor highlights that at Unicamp, despite all the contradictions that pervade Brazilian society, it has advanced policies to promote equity and combat violence against women, in the most diverse forms. “We have the Núcleo Pagu and other important groups and research centers working on the topic and also the newspaper’s collections Mulherio, Patrícia Galvão (Pagu), by Verena Stolcke, by Moleca [Movimento Lésbico de Campinas], by Galf [Feminist Lesbian Action Group], by Coletivo Feminista de Campinas, by Cacilda Lanuza, by Geledés Instituto da Mulher Negra, among other collections that are in the AEL [Archive Edgard Leuenroth].”
Watch Unicamp Reporter "Ccases of domestic violence motivate actions by Women's Hospital"
