Brazil's Supreme Court has unanimously voted to significantly broaden the reach of the country's key law protecting women from violence, expanding its scope beyond domestic incidents to include actions taken outdoors. The decision by the nation's highest court will now allow the Maria da Penha law to be invoked for situations involving persecution, threats, and harassment that occur outside the home.
This expansion addresses a growing concern that violence against women in Brazil, while legally recognized within domestic spheres for two decades, has also been increasingly occurring in public spaces and often going unaddressed. The court's ruling also stipulates that perpetrators can face trial even if they lack a familial or sentimental connection to the victim.
Justice Carmen Lúcia, the sole female justice on the bench during the vote, noted that violence against women has persisted and even grown in Brazil despite the existence of the 2006 law. She emphasized that the Maria da Penha law needed updating because violence against women is often a manifestation of power imbalances and that many femicides occur outside the home, with incidents reported to police sometimes being dismissed.
"In real life, judges reject (accusations against men) without justification, they say it is not urgent, they leave it for next Monday. Meanwhile, one of us dies," Lúcia stated. "With this ruling, this Supreme Court shows it is not blind or deaf to all of this happening against all of us women."
Official figures indicate a substantial increase in the application of protective measures for women. In the first half of 2026, nearly 340,000 urgent protective measures were granted under the Maria da Penha law, representing a 170% increase compared to the same period in 2020.