Page 12 - aruba-today-20180922

A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 22 September 2018

Despite strong laws, domestic violence in Brazil is rampant

black, decided to tell au-
thorities about years of as-
saults and death threats
after her former partner
punched her as she held
their toddler, and since
2013 she has been granted
several restraining orders
from a wing of the court
system dedicated to crimes
involving violence.
But such orders only last for
three months. Each time
she applies for a renewal,
the actress and theater
producer can lose a day
of work, waiting for hours
in a cramped room at the
public defenders’ office.
Throngs of people elbow
each other in the lines as
toddlers and elderly peo-
ple take up the seats.
When Cardeal went to re-
port the restraining order
violation, she waited more
than four hours to turn in
paperwork to then pro-
ceed to the domestic vio-
lence unit. After the alter-
cation with the case man-
In this Sept. 4, 2018 photo, Rogeria Cardeal stands in line at the public defenders’ office to renew a restraining order for her former agers, she met with the
partner in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. public defender, who told
Associated Press her she had a case, but
By BEATRICE CHRISTOFARO women from domestic cases repeatedly emerge candidate leading the polls that a judge would have to
Associated Press violence. The 2006 Maria in the news media. ahead of October’s presi- evaluate it, a process that
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Ro- da Penha Law, named Last week, a surveillance dential election, has re- could take months.
geria Cardeal had spent after a woman left para- camera captured 61-year- peatedly insulted women, A branch of the govern-
most of the day in a muggy plegic when her husband old Elaine Figueiredo being once telling a colleague in ment’s Specialized Center
waiting room at the pub- tried to murder her, has shot by her ex-husband in Congress she was so ugly for Women’s Services has
lic defenders’ office. She received international ac- front of her house. that she “didn’t deserve” helped Cardeal navigate
wanted to report that a claim from bodies like the In July, security cameras to be raped. the byzantine judicial sys-
former partner, who had United Nations. The mea- showed the husband of Until 2009, the penal code tem. The Rio office gives
beaten her for years, had sure increased sentences Tatiane Spitzner, a 29-year- disqualified some victims about 200 women a month
violated a restraining order for domestic abusers and old lawyer, attacking her in of sexual violence if they psychological and legal
by approaching her and created shelters for victims. an elevator moments be- were not “honest women.” guidance, and when social
the kids at church. A femicide law passed fore she died. As late as the 1990s, courts workers fear a victim may
The response was discour- three years ago increased In May, Jessyka da Silva could justify attacks on a be at risk of death, she is
aging. sentences when gender is Souza, 25, was shot in front woman if she allegedly transferred to a secret shel-
“It’s not like he would’ve identified as a cause of the of her family by her former had done something to dis- ter.
done anything in a public killing. partner, a police officer. honor a man, say by hav- “They come to us to survive,
space,” a case manager Yet violence against wom- “I always had empathy for ing an affair. to maintain their dignity as
told Cardeal when she was en is rampant and may be the women I saw on TV. But “Now our legislation is ex- women,” said Rosangela
finally called. getting worse. when it happens to some- emplary, but the changes Pereira, the director of the
“I would barely call that Last year, a record 4,539 one you know, it changes are very recent,” said Jac- office. The city’s only other
psychological terror,” said women were murdered you,” said Anna Caroline queline Pitanguy, a sociolo- government-run center
another. in Brazil, according to the Viana, Souza’s cousin. gist who directs the human for domestic abuse closed
The meeting turned into non-profit Brazilian Forum Experts who work with sur- rights organization Cepia in due to budget cuts, forcing
a shouting match, and for Public Security. More vivors of domestic violence Rio de Janeiro. “The patri- some women to travel long
one of the case managers than 1,100 were registered say many cases are not archal culture still persists.” distances for assistance.
pushed Cardeal out of the as femicides under the new reported, in part because Violence disproportionate- Despite years of difficulties,
office. law, nearly doubling the Brazil’s crisis-stricken gov- ly affects black women. In Cardeal has been able
“The fear of dying is the previous year’s count. ernment has defunded 2016, homicide rates were to move on. She started a
only thing that kept me The Brazilian nonprofit many programs, poor 71 percent higher for black fashion and arts project to
going when I first started” Mapa da Violencia, using women of color don’t have women than those of oth- help young people with
seeking restraining orders, data from the World Health the same access to health er races, a discrepancy self-esteem, is in a healthy
said Cardeal, a 39-year-old Organization, reported in or legal services and in- that has been increasing relationship and has a
mother of three. 2015 that Brazil had the fifth grained machismo means over the years, according lead role in a play about
On paper, Latin America’s highest homicide rate for women often blame them- to the Brasilia-based Insti- domestic violence, “Inimi-
largest nation has progres- women of the 83 countries selves. tute of Applied Economic gos Ocultos,” or “Hidden
sive legislation to protect surveyed, and shocking Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right Research. Cardeal, who is Enemies.”q