Maria da Penha holds the book where she tells her story, ‘I survived, I can tell’. Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil, used with permission.

In 1983, Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes, a Brazilian biopharmacist, survived two homicide attempts at home. The first one left her paralyzed from the waist down after she was shot while she was asleep. In the second attempt, she was almost electrocuted in the shower.

In 1991, Penha saw the trial, which convicted her ex-husband of the attacks, being annulled. Five years later, a new trial found him guilty again, but he walked free. It took 19 years and six months, risking the statute of limitations to have him arrested. In 2006, her name became one of the best-known in Brazil when it became associated with a federal law that aims to protect women from domestic and family violence.

The path between the violent episodes that changed her life and the law that tries to avoid this type of crime was possible mainly due to international pressure, Penha acknowledges in a video conversation with Global Voices. In 2001, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) convicted Brazil of negligence and omission in her case, and this led to the law’s creation.

Penha’s name is now also linked to police patrols and other public policies regarding gender violence in the country. A poll by the Brazilian Senate, from 2023, however, pointed out that three out of four Brazilian women know little or nothing at all about the law itself. It also showed that around 30 percent of women in Brazil have suffered domestic violence at the hands of a man.

The latest Annual Report by the Brazilian Public Safety Forum, from 2024, registered an increase in all types of violence against women, including 9.8 percent more cases of domestic violence being reported and 9.2 percent of homicide attempts.

Last March, the Brazilian government announced that it was suing a content producer company for publishing misinformation regarding the lawsuit that led to Penha’s attacker being convicted. The attorney general’s office states the content “can promote hate speech, foment new violations against the victim’s rights and against the collective sphere of all women who recur to public policies based on Maria da Penha’s law.”

Almost 20 years since the law was enacted by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Maria da Penha, 80 years old, evaluates her path, its effects and future:

Maria da Penha during an event to debate the law at the National Council of Justice. Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil, used with permission

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Global Voices (GV): How was the path to see the law enacted?

Maria da Penha (MP): Eu fui vítima da violência doméstica, sofri uma tentativa de homicídio, e demorei muitos anos para que meu agressor fosse punido. Durante esse tempo, me senti órfã do Estado. Somente quando meu caso chegou na esfera internacional, uma denúncia que o movimento de mulheres do país, o Cejil (Centro pela Justiça e o Direito Internacional) e o Cladem fizeram na Organização dos Estados Americanos (OEA), que a Comissão de Direitos Humanos (CIDH) conseguiu que o Brasil criasse uma lei.

Em 2001, a OEA, através do seu relatório final, fez algumas recomendações e solicitou que o processo fosse concluído e o agressor punido.

Maria da Penha (MP): I was a domestic violence victim, who suffered a homicide attempt, and it took years to have the aggressor punished. During this time, I felt orphaned by the state. It was only when my case got to the international sphere, a complaint that the women's movement, Cejil (Center for Justice and International Law) and Cladem (Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Defense of Women’s Rights) presented at the Organization of American States (OAS), that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) had Brazil creating a law.

In 2001, the OAS, in its final report, made some recommendations asking for the lawsuit to be concluded and the aggressor to be punished.

GV: But how was this matter working with the parliament, the government? 

MP: Eu sofri a tentativa de homicídio em 1983 e quase 10 anos depois foi que houve o primeiro julgamento. Ele foi condenado pelo júri popular por seis votos a um. Imediatamente os advogados dele entraram com recurso dizendo que o julgamento havia sido contra a prova dos autos.

Quer dizer, o julgamento que começou depois de ter sido adiado por três vezes, na hora que a sentença é dada os advogados tiram o papel do bolso e dizem que foi contra a prova dos autos. Foi revoltante.

O movimento de mulheres estava me acompanhando e ficou indignado. Ele saiu do fórum em liberdade, aguardando a decisão do Tribunal de Justiça do Ceará. E esse julgamento, em 1991, realmente foi anulado.

Eu comecei a perder o ânimo, ficar entristecida e revoltada. Perguntei a várias pessoas: “Será possível que vai ser anulado quando as provas estão todas aí, inclusive as testemunhas? A vizinhança toda testemunhou nesse dia.” Me responderam o seguinte: ‘‘Não duvide do que vem do poder judiciário, porque lá também existem machistas.”

Aí eu resolvi escrever o livro “Sobrevivi…Posso contar”(1994). Mostrei as contradições do réu, tanto nos interrogatórios quanto no julgamento, e tudo que eu tinha conhecimento que estava documentado. E contei a minha história.

Esse livro começou a circular e chegou na mão de muitas pessoas. Chegou nas mãos do Cejil e do Cladem, e eles me ligaram para participar da denúncia.

MP: I suffered a homicide attempt in 1983 and almost ten years later we had the first trial. He was convicted by the jury by six votes against one. Immediately, his defense presented an appeal saying the ruling was against the evidence in the suit.

I mean, the trial started after it was postponed for three times, and when the sentence was read, the lawyers pulled a piece of paper out of their pockets and said it went against evidence in the case files. It was revolting.

The women’s movement was following the case and was revolted. He walked free, waiting for the decision of Ceará's state Justice Court. And this 1991 trial was indeed annulled.

I was discouraged, sad, enraged. I asked many people: ‘Is it possible to annul it when the evidence is all there, including the witnesses? The whole neighborhood came to testify.’ They answered me: “Do not doubt what can happen in the judiciary, because there are sexists there too.”

So I decided to write the book “I survived…I can tell” (1994). I showed the defendant's contradictions, on the interrogations and the trial, and everything that took place that was documented. And told my story.

This book began to circulate and got to the hands of many people. It got to Cejil and Cladem, and they called me to participate on the complaint.

Penha became a target of fake news spread by the right. Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil, used with permission

GV: Last year, the president of the Federal Supreme Court, Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, apologized for the way the Brazilian justice system dealt with your case. How did you feel about it?

MP: Foi, talvez, uma resposta a fake news que eu estava sofrendo. Começou em 2021. Um deputado bolsonarista recebeu meu agressor [na Assembleia Legislativa de Santa Catarina]. Quando eu tomei conhecimento daquilo, eu comecei a ficar apavorada. Como é que é permitido uma pessoa desconstruir uma história que já foi provada, analisada internacionalmente? Comecei a me sentir ameaçada mesmo. [O deputado Jesse Lopes recebeu o ex-marido de Maria da Penha e publicou nas redes sociais foto com ele, afirmando achar sua história ‘‘intrigante.’’ O episódio gerou manifestação do Ministério Público de Santa Catarina].

Às vezes, eu estava na sala de espera de um consultório médico e chegavam pessoas e diziam: “Olha, aquela pessoa que está sentada ali, está falando mal de você, que você é uma farsa, que você mentiu e que os homens estão sofrendo.” Começou a haver esse tipo de coisa, eu comecei a recuar, a não ter mais atividade fora de casa.

MP: It was, perhaps, an answer to the fake news targeting me. It began in 2021. A bolsonarista (supporter of former president Jair Bolsonaro) welcomed my aggressor into his office [at the Legislative Assembly in Santa Catarina's state]. When I learned about it, I started to feel terrified. How is one person allowed to deconstruct a story that was already proven, and analyzed internationally? I began to feel threatened. [State congressman Jesse Lopes hosted Maria da Penha's ex-husband and published a picture with him on his social media, saying his story was “intriguing.” The episode led to a response by the state Public Prosecutor's Office].

Sometimes, I would be in a waiting room of a doctor’s office and someone would approach me and say: “Look, that person sitting over there is trash talking about you, saying you are a farce, that you lied and men are suffering.” This sort of thing started happening and I began to retreat, avoiding activities outside of home.

GV: It went that far?

MP: Vou te contar três fatos marcantes. Um foi logo quando a lei foi sancionada, que chegou um repórter para me entrevistar. No final, ele disse assim: “Agora eu vou perguntar para a senhora uma pergunta que meus ouvintes querem saber: o que foi que a senhora fez para merecer esse tiro?” Isso foi logo no começo da sanção da lei, a partir daí me alertaram que eu nunca deveria mais viajar sozinha. Porque existiam os que aplaudiam, mas existiam os que se sentiam prejudicados.

O segundo momento é quando as fake news aconteceram. Eu estava no supermercado, chegou uma senhora perto de mim e disse: “Tem dois homens ali conversando. Ele estava dizendo que se fulano, amigo dele, soubesse que a senhora estava aqui, vinha lhe dar uma surra.” Isso aconteceu em Fortaleza, no supermercado que eu costumava ir, próximo da minha casa.

Outra vez, eu estava no banco, minha amiga foi pegar o carro, e chegaram dois homens e disseram: “A senhora é Maria da Penha?’’ Digo: ‘‘Sou.” Aí um estendeu a mão e disse: “Muito prazer, eu sou um ex-agressor.” Eu engoli seco, apertei a mão dele e disse: “Muito prazer, porque você é um ex-agressor. Parabéns.” Não demonstrei ter medo, mas eu tive medo.

MP: I’ll tell you three remarkable episodes. One happened right after the law was sanctioned, when a reporter interviewed me. At the end, he said: “Now, I’ll ask you the question that all my listeners want to know: what did you do to deserve that shot?.” It was right after the enactment of the law, so they alerted me that I shouldn't travel by myself anymore. Because there were those cheering it, but there were also those who felt harmed by it.

The second episode happened when the fake news appeared. I was at the supermarket, a woman came close and said: “There are two men talking over there. He was saying that if his friend knew you were here, he would come and beat you up.” That happened in Fortaleza, Ceará, in the supermarket I used to go to, near to my house.

The other time, I was at the bank, waiting for my friend who went to pick up the car, and two men came. One of them said: “Are you Maria da Penha?.” I said: “I am.” He reached out his hand and said: “Nice to meet you, I'm a former aggressor.” I swallowed hard, greeted him and said: “Nice to meet you, because you're a former aggressor. Congratulations.” I didn't show fear, but I was frightened.

GV: You mentioned the support of women's movements during the trial. Were you involved in activism before?

MP: Eu devo o que eu sou hoje ao movimento de mulheres da minha cidade. No momento em que a polícia descobriu que eu fui vítima de tentativa de homicídio – não existia a palavra feminicídio na época – chegaram algumas mulheres desses movimentos até a mim.

Foi então que eu tomei conhecimento do que era violência doméstica. Eu sofria, mas eu não sabia que era comum na sociedade. Eu não vim de uma família violenta. E a maioria das mulheres não comentava o mau comportamento do homem e nem o homem demonstrava ser grosseiro na frente de terceiros. Hoje a gente a gente sabe coisa até da própria família, de trisavô, bisavô que não sabia.

MP: I owe what I am today to the women's movement in my city. When the police found out I was a victim of a homicide attempt — we didn't have the term femicide back then — some of these women came to me.

That was when I became aware of domestic violence. I suffered it, but I didn't know it was so common on our society. My family wasn’t violent. And most women didn’t comment on men’s bad behavior, neither they would expose they were rude in front of other people. Today we know about stuff even within one’s own family, how their great grandparents acted and they didn't know.

GV: The law that has your name is one of the best-known in the country. Everyone knows what Maria da Penha’s law refers to. What is the evaluation you make of it after almost 20 years?

MP: Eu acho que essa questão de dar nome às coisas teve um peso nisso. No momento em que a lei foi sancionada, baseada no fato real, não foi um fato político, foi um fato real. As mulheres começaram a perceber que acontecia isso nas suas famílias, que era comum naquele município ou naquela capital, e mudou a cultura.

Eu me sinto uma brasileira que contribuiu para que outras brasileiras tenham vida. Se a gente não conseguiu que seja uma amplitude maior, a gente está caminhando para isso, né? Então, me dá muito orgulho.

Quantas mulheres hoje que são atuantes estão nessa luta porque viram essa violência dentro de casa e não tinham como desabafar, não tinham como tomar uma atitude?

MP: I think giving things a name had a weight to it. When the law was sanctioned, based on a true story, it wasn’t a political fact, it was a true fact. Women began to realize that it was happening in their families, that it was usual to witness it in a town, on a state capital, and it changed the culture.

I feel like a Brazilian who contributed to help other Brazilian women have a life of their own. If we couldn’t achieve a broader reach, we’re walking towards it, right? So, I’m proud.

How many women today are active in the cause because they’ve seen this violence in their homes and they didn’t have a channel to unload, didn't have a way of taking action?

Maria da Penha holds a book explaining the law in ‘cordel,’ a traditional form of literature in northeastern Brazil. Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil, used with permission

GV: This was something the law helped to change?

MP: Ajudou. Feminicídio ainda está acontecendo porque tem muitas mulheres, principalmente em pequenos municípios, onde a informação chega, mas o conhecimento sobre violência doméstica ainda não existe, não existe o local onde ela possa denunciar discretamente. É uma coisa que eu luto. Por que não existe em todo pequeno município um centro de referência da mulher dentro da unidade de saúde? Quantas mulheres vão ao posto de saúde mostrar seus ferimentos no corpo, mas não identificam como violência doméstica? Para a sociedade daquele município, aquele homem é um bom marido, porque ele não deixa faltar o feijão em casa.

Duas coisas que são importantes para a gente desconstruir as culturas de ódio da sociedade, a educação e especificamente o centro de referência da mulher pela unidade de saúde. E esse centro tem compromisso e a obrigação de levar esta mulher para uma macro região onde ela vai encontrar a delegacia da mulher, casa abrigo, ela pode sair daquela situação, com suporte.

E ser capacitada profissionalmente, ter escola para os seus filhos, onde vão aprender que o que o que eles viam em casa é violência e que eles não podem levar isso para sua vida adulta. Que é o que acontecia em nossas famílias.

MP: It did. Femicides are still happening because many women, especially those living in small towns, where information reaches them, but the knowledge about domestic violence still doesn’t exist for them, and the place where a woman can denounce it discreetly is not there. This is something I fight for. Why don't we have in every city a reference center for women within every health unit? How many women go to the health unit to show their wounds, but they are not identified as domestic violence? To that society, that man is a good husband, because he puts bread on the table.

Two things are important to deconstruct this hate culture in our societies; one is education and the other the reference centers. And that these centers are committed to taking women to macro-regions where they can access a special police department, shelter, tools to leave that situation, with support.

And be professionally trained, have a good school to their kids, where they can learn that what they’ve seen at home is violence and they cannot carry it to their adult lives. Which happened with other generations.

Can you talk about the Maria da Penha institute?

Bem, o instituto foi criado com a intenção da a gente trabalhar a questão da lei, da mulher, né? A gente desenvolve projeto nas universidades, nas escolas, nas comunidades, em empresas – porque eles já perceberam que a violência doméstica traz prejuízo.

Well, the institute was created aiming working with matters of the law, on gender issues. We develop projects with universities, schools, communities and companies because people realized that domestic violence also leads to losses in business.