The Maria da Penha Law Consortium, of which CEPIA is a member, as well as CFEMEA – Centro Feminista de Estudos e Assessoria, CLADEM – Comité Latino Americano e do Caribe para a Defesa dos Direitos da Mulher, NEPEM – Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisa sobre a Mulher da UNB, TAMO JUNTAS – Assessoria Multidisciplinar Gratuita para Mulheres em situação de violência, THEMIS – Gender, Justice and Human Rights, UBM – Brazilian Women’s Union, CEDIMRJ – Rio de Janeiro State Council on Women’s Rights, São Paulo Women’s Union, Católicas pelo Direito de Decidir and Federal Deputy Maria do Rosário – PT/RS, released the following note of support for Maria da Penha Fernandes:
“We express our solidarity with the dear Maria da Penha Fernandes, a fellow fighter for justice and for women’s right to a life without violence.
We repudiate the offenses and attacks on Maria da Penha that in recent years have attempted to question and silence her life story of almost 40 years, which has inspired and inspires millions of Brazilian women to break the cycle of domestic violence and to say no to patriarchy and all forms of gender violence.
Maria da Penha’s story is inscribed internationally in the decision of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights when it recognized in 2001 that she was the victim of a double homicide attempt (now feminicide) committed by her ex-husband and that left her paraplegic.
Her name is also inscribed nationally in the Maria da Penha Law that, since 2006, has become an instrument of protection for women in this Brazil so marked by the high rates of aggression and feminicide, besides being recognized by the UN as one of the three best laws to combat gender violence against women.
We are all Maria da Penha! Implementation of the Maria da Penha Law now!
Brasília, June 6, 2022”.
