International day for the elimination of violence against women

Maria da Penha was shot in the back while she slept. Not by a stranger, but by her husband. She survived, but the attack left her paraplegic and consigned to a wheelchair. The second attack happened on her return from hospital, when her husband tried to electrocute her in the shower. She survived that too. In fact, Maria da Penha survived long enough to fight a long court battle that lasted from 1983 until 2002 when her former husband was imprisoned for just two years.

Today, on the day of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Maria da Penha is a well known activist on women’s rights. Brazil’s main law on domestic violence against women is named after her. The Maria da Penha law is recognised as one of the strongest examples of legislation against domestic violence in the world.

The Brazilian government has been active too, and not just on legislation. It invested R$43m between 2008 and 2011 to support the law, including actions such as appointing 50 specialist judges to deal with domestic violence cases and creating specialist police outposts. A Secretaria for Women’s Policies was created in 2003, and a hotline is available to report cases of violence against women (call 180 in Brazil). This and much more.

Yet, the figures for domestic violence in Brazil are still disturbing. Statistics can be problematic as many cases go unreported, but according to a senate report in March this year roughly 19% of Brazilian women have faced some form of domestic violence. So the challenge still remains to bring Maria da Penha’s law to the women that need it.

It’s not just Brazil’s problem. It’s a global problem. Reliable statistics are hard to come by in the UK too, but apparently in 2011/12, 7.3% of UK women (1.2 million) reported having experienced domestic abuse.

We need new solutions. The UK embassy in Brazil has been working with UN Women to develop a smartphone application to inform women of their rights, and to identify their nearest women’s police station, which we hope will be taken up throughout Brazil. We’re proud of that. Countries have to work together and to learn from each other’s experiences.

I sincerely hope that, in the future, the international day for the elimination of violence against women will be a thing of the past.