Procedural Instruments for the Protection of Women Victims of Domestic Violence

Abstract

This study examines procedural mechanisms for the protection of women victims of domestic violence; Law No. 11,340/2006 was enacted to comply with constitutional mandates and international commitments undertaken by Brazil and aims to prevent and combat domestic and family violence against women; to safeguard women’s physical, psychological, moral, and property integrity, the law provides for urgent protective measures of a precautionary nature, which may be requested directly by the victim without the need for legal representation and may also be granted ex officio by the judge; to ensure the effectiveness of these measures, the law establishes mechanisms such as multidisciplinary assistance and enforcement measures, including the imposition of periodic fines (astreintes); furthermore, it introduced a new ground for the admissibility of pretrial detention, which may be ordered to ensure compliance with protective measures, provided that the legal requirements set forth in Article 312 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are met; in the absence of a specific criminal offense, non-compliance with protective measures may be classified as the crime of disobedience under Article 330 of the Penal Code.