On August 21st, the Law School of the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Juntas Por Maria da Penha Group held an event to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the Maria da Penha Law and to pay tribute to Maria da Penha Fernandes, survivor of two femicide attempts and who, with the support of CEGIL and CLADEM, denounced the omission of the Brazilian state to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The event was attended by a number of authorities, including the Minister of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) Rogerio Schietti Machado Cruz, federal deputy Erika Hilton, as well as magistrates, members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, lawyers, civil and military police officers, journalists and representatives of various organizations working against gender-based violence.
Leila Linhares Barsted, representing CEPIA and the Maria da Penha Law Consortium, was one of the speakers and recalled the long struggle of feminist movements, since the mid-1970s, to end violence against women and against the argument of legitimate defense of honor, used to exonerate men who committed crimes against women and remained unpunished, recalling that only in 2024 did the Supreme Court declare the unconstitutionality of this argument historically used by the Popular Jury.
Watch the video of the event at this link
