On March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day. In Brazil, sad statistics remind us that women still have much to fight for. The alarming prevalence of murders of women due to gender has concerned the government, non-profit organizations, and activists. Just at the beginning of this year, 126 women were murdered in the country. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed deep concern over gender-based murders of women in Brazil and is calling on authorities to implement comprehensive strategies to prevent these acts, fulfill their obligation to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible, as well as provide protection and full reparation to all victims.
According to publicly available information, 126 gender-based murders of women and 67 attempts have been reported so far in 2019. These reports refer to cases recorded in 159 cities across the country, distributed in 26 states of Brazil. According to data from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 40% of all murders of women in both regions occur in Brazil. According to media reports, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, an average of 300 women are murdered each year, and in the state of São Paulo alone, from January to November last year, 377 women were murdered.
The Commission notes with concern that, in most cases, the murdered women had previously reported their aggressors, faced serious acts of domestic violence, or suffered previous attacks or attempted homicides. Similarly, the IACHR warns that, in many of these cases, the aggressors were or had been partners of the victims, that nearly half of the homicides of women in Brazil are committed with firearms, and that, in most cases, they occur in their own homes.
“Murders of women are the most extreme form of violence and discrimination against them and represent a flagrant violation of their human rights,” said Commissioner Antonia Urrejola, IACHR Rapporteur for Brazil. “We are concerned about the prevalence of murders of women, as well as the tragic consequences that attempted murders have for victims and their families, as well as the profound psychological, emotional, and physical effects that these aggressions entail,” the Commissioner added.
The IACHR emphasizes that murders of women are not an isolated problem and are symptomatic of a pattern of gender violence against women that affects the entire country, resulting from deeply rooted sexist values in Brazilian society. Similarly, the Commission warns of the increased risks faced by particularly vulnerable women due to their ethnic or racial background, their sexual orientation or real or perceived gender identity, their mobility situation, those living in poverty, women journalists, women involved in politics, and human rights defenders for women.
During its on-site visit to the country in November 2018, the IACHR particularly warned of the existence of intersections between violence, racism, and machismo, reflected in the widespread increase in homicides of Black women. Similarly, the Commission is concerned about the social tolerance that persists in the face of these events, as well as the impunity that continues to surround these serious cases.
“The approval of the law that typifies feminicide in Brazil represented a fundamental step to make visible the discriminatory nature of murders of women based on their gender. However, it is now essential to strengthen prevention and protection measures,” said Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, President of the IACHR and Rapporteur for Women’s Rights. “It is unacceptable that women with protective measures are murdered, that there are not enough shelters, or that their reports are not properly considered. Gender-based violence against women is a matter of real severity, and authorities at the highest level must address it with the utmost seriousness and urgency,” concluded the President.