The Maria da Penha law: between norm and practice, intersectionality and the limits of gender justice in Brazil

Abstract

This thesis examines the extent to which the Maria da Penha Law has been effectively implemented in Brazil two decades after its enactment, with particular attention to its origins in the Inter-American Human Rights System and its application to groups facing intersecting forms of discrimination. The law emerged as a direct response to Brazil’s international responsibility recognized in Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes v. Brazil, which revealed the State’s failure to exercise due diligence in preventing and responding to domestic violence against women. Although the law represents a landmark legal and institutional framework for addressing gender-based violence in Latin America, significant challenges continue to undermine its material effectiveness. Adopting a Human Rights-based and intersectional approach, the research employs qualitative doctrinal and jurisprudential analysis with particular emphasis placed on the experiences of black women, indigenous women and LGBTQ+ individuals, whose exposure to domestic violence is shaped by overlapping forms of discrimination, such as racism, coloniality, socio-economic marginalization and heteronormativity. The analysis demonstrates that, while the law has produced important formal advances, its application remains uneven and insufficiently responsive to structural inequalities. The thesis argues that Brazil has only partially fulfilled the reparative and preventive obligations established by the Inter-American system and that the internalization of international Human Rights standards has prioritized formal compliance over substantive equality, resulting in selective protection. The study concludes by proposing measures to strengthen the inclusive and intersectional effectiveness of the Maria da Penha Law. Keywords: gender-based violence; Maria da Penha Law; intersectionality; Inter-American Human Rights System; domestic violence.