Outcome BRA_D_3.1

An enabling legislation, policy and social environment is in place to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.

Obstacles towards creating an enabling legislative, policy and social environment to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG) remain. Efforts by the federal government to address the trends and impacts provoked by COVID-19 described above (Impact 3) have been insufficient, including budget cuts and decreases in spending related to preventing and ending VAWG in Brazil (House of Representatives, 2021). As such, the CO is increasingly turning to local governments, the UNCT, UN human rights mechanisms, civil society partners and, in special, women human rights defenders (WHRDs), their organizations and networks, to carve out spaces for tailored solutions to tackle VAWG. These should rely strongly on strengthening networks of women and girls, promoting prevention and using a human rights-based approach to gender-based violence that acknowledges the diverse aspects of VAWG and how it impacts on the rights of women and girls. In this context, the CO also turned to small grants as a tool to strengthening the institutional capacities and environment of the organizations of women and girls in sports as well as women human rights defenders. This tool allowed these organizations to participate in local and national important advocacy and networking activities increasing their capability of network action, communication skills and reach, and more specifically, combat COVID 19 spread. Additionally, WHRDs have been increasingly turning to international platforms and human rights mechanisms as a platform for advocacy, collective action and pushing for progress in the enjoyment of rights, such as COP 26. Accordingly, the CO has been supporting these forms of engagement by creating channels for strategic exchanges among WHRDs and between their networks and organizations, on the one hand, and human rights mechanisms, on the other.

An enabling legislation, policy and social environment is in place to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.

In 2022, UN Women contributed to an enabling legislative, policy and social environment to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG). In terms of an enabling legislative environment, the Brazilian Senate approved Bill 1604/2022 in December 2022 to advance Maria da Penha Law and grant women urgent protective measures based solely on the allegation of existing threat, with no need to formally register the occurrence or to assess the relationship between the parties or the reason that triggered the threat or aggression. This can be partially attributed to a diagnosis document on the status of existing protective measures, delivered by civil society organization (CSO) Consórcio Lei Maria da Penha (CLMP) to the Senate, which is cited in the Bill, along with Recommendation 19/1992 of the CEDAW Committee. The document was produced by CLMP as a result of UN Women support through a small grant. Also in 2022, UN Special Rapporteurs, including the Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, issued a statement on the impact of gender-discriminatory legislation in Brazil, which can be partially attributable to women’s organizations CLMP, Coletivo de Proteção à Infância Voz Materna (a child protection collective), Coletivo Margarida Alves (CMA), and Comitê Latino Americano e do Caribe para a Defesa dos Direitos da Mulher (CLADEM, a regional committee for women's rights) increased advocacy capacity as a result of UN Women support . This was the first statement by special rapporteurs on the Parental Alienation Law, law which often penalizes mothers and children when applied in cases of domestic violence and abuse, and whose revocation has been a key agenda for feminist and women's organizations since its approval. In terms of an enabling social environment, there was progress towards an enabling social environment for preventing VAWG in and through sports. In 2022 the Brazilian National Olympic Committee (COB, in Portuguese) instituted its Women in Sports Commission, which can be partially attributed to increased capacities on gender equality, to which UN Women has been contributing. The Commission aims at developing actions and promoting the integration of Brazilian NOC areas with the objective of planning strategies to include women in sport through a crosscutting approach. In addition to the Commission, in 2022 COB, in partnership with UN Women, launched a set of knowledge projects, including research, leaflets and an online course on gender and sport, demonstrating its increasing commitment to the gender equality agenda. Throughout 2022, UN Women provided COB with close technical assistance that is being translated in a progressive improvement and increase of technical and institutional capacity in promoting a more inclusive, equitable and safer sport environment for women and girls. Another UN Women partner, the CSO Empodera, implemented in the reporting period an educational approach to sport to promote the empowerment of girls and the reduction of harmful stereotypes, and received the title of National Center of Excellence in Sports Programs for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Girls and Women in Brazil, as a result of its strengthened technical and institutional capacities to use the transformative power of sport to promote girls’ and women’s empowerment. Rights-holders also contributed to progressive changes in social norms regarding VAWG, as a result of changes in their perceptions and behaviour towards it. In 2022, as a result of enhanced capacities on VAWG prevention, girls demonstrated positive shifts in perceptions, increased levels of confidence and knowledge and reduced conflict potential and tolerance of violence, particularly: An increase of 20 per cent in the number of girls presenting positive changes regarding gender norms and stereotypes; An increase of 35 per cent in the number of girls who considered themselves leaders; A decrease of 61 per cent in the number of girls who agreed with the statement “women beaten by their husbands who remained married to them like to be beaten”. In addition to these, Guarani and Kaiowá women also started to implement actions to protect their prayer sites from threats and destruction, such as to advocate for their recognition as heritage sites, as a result of their strengthened capacities on advocacy and knowledge on their rights. UN Women supported indigenous WHRDs organizations with financial resources and technical advice to raise awareness about the grave violations of human rights these groups experience and potential protection measures which can be sought.

An enabling legislation, policy and social environment is in place to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.

In 2023, UN Women contributed to an enabling legislative, policy and social environment to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG). In terms of an enabling legislative environment, the Ministry of Women developed the National Pact for the Prevention of Feminicides with UN Women technical support to develop a mapping and evaluation of policies as well as through the facilitation of policy articulations. The pact is an intergovernmental management strategy guiding the planning and execution of coordination actions among various sectors of the Executive at the federal, state, municipal, the Justice System, the Legislature, and civil society, to prevent and reduce feminicides. The Pact operates on the premise that feminicides result from a continuum of violence against women driven by gender inequality and its intersections. Inequality constitutes the structural cause of violence against women, and, for this reason, feminicides are considered preventable crimes. To eliminate them, the Pact understands that law enforcement measures alone are insufficient, recognizing the need for primary prevention measures (transforming gender social norms), secondary prevention (immediate or early intervention in cases of gender-based violence against women), and tertiary prevention (repair measures to interrupt the harm of violence in the lives of women and their families). The Pact represents tangible advancement towards an enabling legislative and policy environment that protects women from various forms of GBV. In terms of an enabling policy environment, the Ministry of Women resumed the implementation of “Casa da Mulher Brasileira”, a relevant public policy to respond to VAWG, partially as a result of its enhanced capacities due to UN Women technical support. This support was directed to develop and revise its norms and standards, to enhance the essential services for women survivors, to train its teams and staff, to develop an internal service flow, coordination between specialized service networks, and the creation of internal regulations for the management committee of the Brazilian Women's House, with the aim of ensuring integration, coordination, and humanization of services. In addition to this, the Federal Government 2024-2027 Multi-Year Plan defined as one of its strategic objectives in the social development and guarantee of rights axis to “strengthen protection and care policies for women, seeking equality of rights, financial autonomy, equal pay and strengthening the network to prevent and combat violence”. To this end, programmes, indicators and goals are planned to expand the service network for women survivors, promoting humanized care and access to specialized services in the areas of health, public safety, justice and the social assistance network; promotion of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention actions to protect women, in their diversity and plurality, against all forms of violence; promotion of actions to ensure equal opportunities and treatment in organizations' work environments by requiring compliance with legal measures to prevent discrimination, harassment and violence at work. In terms of an enabling social environment, three organizations of women human rights defenders improved methodologies for producing data on rights violations experienced by women in all their diversity. Kunangue Aty Guasu, Women's Collective of CONAQ and Coturno de Vênus produced technical documents with systematized data based on innovative methodologies. This development was possible through financial support through the Small Grants policy and technical support for systematization and conceptual approaches provided by UN Women. These methodologies were disseminated to other WHRDs organizations and to public institutions, availing expertise to produce data on violence against WHRDs to build better public policies and a more positive social environment for WHRDs.