The Femicide and the Challenges to the Effectiveness of the Law Maria da Penha: Judicial Discretion and Legal Culture of Judges in the Treatment of Domestic and Family Violence against Women

Abstract

This article discusses the problem of femicide, emphasizing its bond with the cycle of domestic violence against women. The denial and underuse of the institutes stated in the Law Maria da Penha is the consequence of a traditional legal culture that deals this problem as a private issue and faces this kind of violence with a consensual paradigm of justice. In this essay, we will analyze the judgments by the Brazilian Supreme Court in ADC nº 19/DF and ADI nº 4424/DF, and the resistances of courts in following this settled jurisprudence.

Keywords

• Feminicídio
• Lei Maria da Penha
• Violência Doméstica e Familiar contra a Mulher
• Discricionariedade Judicial