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In Pictures: Brazil’s women suffer as COVID limits abuse reports

Pandemic restrictions leave some Brazilian women ‘unable to escape their abusers’ while stuck at home.

Daniela Gasparin, 38, who said she lost her hand and suffered 11 stab wounds when her former partner attacked her with a knife on a bus, sits outside her home in Boituva, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on June 5, 2019. Gasparin's ex-boyfriend was convicted of attempted murder, and his appeal was denied. [File: Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Daniela Gasparin, 38, who said she lost her hand and suffered 11 stab wounds when her former partner attacked her with a knife on a bus, sits outside her home in Boituva, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on June 5, 2019. Gasparin's ex-boyfriend was convicted of attempted murder, and his appeal was denied. [File: Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
8 Mar 2021
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During the early months of Brazil’s COVID-19 pandemic, Rio de Janeiro police detective Fernanda Fernandes was certain that cases of domestic abuse were rising, but there was little she could do about it as few women came forward to file a report.

“Women [were] unable to escape their abusers while stuck at home,” said Fernandes, who runs the Specialized Delegation for Support of Women (DEAM) in Rio’s sprawling Duque de Caxias suburb. The number of complaints has, however, risen as the outbreak has ebbed, and more women have left their homes to lodge complaints with police, she said.

Around the world, police and prosecutors, victim support teams and women’s movements, as well as the United Nations, have reported rising domestic violence during coronavirus-related lockdowns. The pandemic in Brazil has left many couples jobless, adding to domestic tensions, Fernandes said.

Brazil recorded 649 femicides during the first half of 2020, according to figures from the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, up two percent from the same period in 2019. But other crimes against women such as assault and rape, which usually require victims to file a police report, fell during that period, the Forum noted.

“The decrease in the registration of some crimes in this period is more a reflection of the difficulties and obstacles women encountered during the pandemic to report abuse, than a sign of a reduction in cases,” the Forum said in its latest October report.

Fernandes – whose team in Duque de Caixas handled 4,121 cases of domestic violence in 2019, the most of any DEAM team in Rio state – has held Facebook Live sessions to brief the local community on the need to report signs of domestic abuse.

Part of the challenge, she said, is convincing some women that abuse is unacceptable. Others fail to grasp the danger of their situation as they do not believe their partners are capable of killing them.

Taylaine Alves, a 19-year-old mother of two, was severely burned in a 2019 attack and later died in hospital from her injuries. Alves’s boyfriend was charged and is in prison awaiting trial. His lawyer from the public defender’s office declined to comment.

“We mothers never forget,” said Jozilene Pereira Alves. “Life goes on, but a piece of me is dead.”

Brazil introduced tough penalties for domestic abuse in 2006 with the Maria da Penha law – named after a woman who was left paraplegic after being shot by her husband in her sleep.

However, it was not until 2015 that Brazil officially recognised femicide as a crime – years after most other countries in the region, including Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Mexico.

Vanessa Lima, 34, who says she was hit and psychologically abused by her husband, waits to be examined by a police officer in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state. Lima's husband has been charged and is awaiting trial. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Vanessa Lima, 34, who says she was hit and psychologically abused by her husband, waits to be examined by a police officer in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state. Lima's husband has been charged and is awaiting trial. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
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A member of the Maria da Penha patrol visits a woman who says she was repeatedly hit by her-ex husband in Duque de Caxias. Brazil introduced tough penalties for domestic abuse in 2006 with the Maria da Penha law, named after a woman who was left paraplegic after being shot by her husband in her sleep. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
A member of the Maria da Penha patrol visits a woman who says she was repeatedly hit by her-ex husband in Duque de Caxias. Brazil introduced tough penalties for domestic abuse in 2006 with the Maria da Penha law, named after a woman who was left paraplegic after being shot by her husband in her sleep. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Fabiana Antunes, 39, holds drawings sent to her by her former partner showing a woman who looks like her being killed by a man holding a cleaver, at her home in Duque de Caxias. Antunes says her former partner struck her in the stomach during a fight and she contacted the police. The judge in the case issued a restraining order against Antunes' ex-partner, who has moved out and denies hitting her. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Fabiana Antunes, 39, holds drawings sent to her by her former partner showing a woman who looks like her being killed by a man holding a cleaver, at her home in Duque de Caxias. Antunes says her former partner struck her in the stomach during a fight and she contacted the police. The judge in the case issued a restraining order against Antunes' ex-partner, who has moved out and denies hitting her. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Debora Goncalves Linhares, the mother of Monique Goncalves, 23, collects belongings at her daughter's former home in Duque de Caxias. Police arrested Monique Goncalves's husband after she said she was imprisoned, drugged and tortured by him over several weeks. Her husband has been charged and is awaiting trial. He denies the accusations against him. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Debora Goncalves Linhares, the mother of Monique Goncalves, 23, collects belongings at her daughter's former home in Duque de Caxias. Police arrested Monique Goncalves's husband after she said she was imprisoned, drugged and tortured by him over several weeks. Her husband has been charged and is awaiting trial. He denies the accusations against him. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Debora Goncalves Linhares comforts a friend at the entrance of the Specialized Delegation for Support of Women (DEAM) unit, in Duque de Caxias. "I became an activist after my daughter was almost a victim of femicide," said Linhares. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Debora Goncalves Linhares comforts a friend at the entrance of the Specialized Delegation for Support of Women (DEAM) unit, in Duque de Caxias. "I became an activist after my daughter was almost a victim of femicide," said Linhares. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Fernanda Fernandes, the head of the police unit Specialized Delegation for Support of Women (DEAM), looks at photos on her phone of Taylaine Alves, a 19-year-old mother of two, as she works on the case in her office in Duque de Caxias. Police said Alves was severely burned in an attack by her boyfriend and later died in a hospital from her injuries. Alves's boyfriend was charged with the killing and is in prison awaiting trial. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Fernanda Fernandes, the head of the police unit Specialized Delegation for Support of Women (DEAM), looks at photos on her phone of Taylaine Alves, a 19-year-old mother of two, as she works on the case in her office in Duque de Caxias. Police said Alves was severely burned in an attack by her boyfriend and later died in a hospital from her injuries. Alves's boyfriend was charged with the killing and is in prison awaiting trial. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
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Police officers from the Specialized Delegation for Support of Women (DEAM) uni detain a man suspected of having assaulted a woman in Duque de Caxias. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Police officers from the Specialized Delegation for Support of Women (DEAM) uni detain a man suspected of having assaulted a woman in Duque de Caxias. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Relatives of Taylaine Alves, a 19-year-old mother of two, stand around Alves's coffin as they mourn during her funeral in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil on September 6, 2019. Police said Alves was severely burned in an attack by her boyfriend and later died in a hospital from her injuries. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Relatives of Taylaine Alves, a 19-year-old mother of two, stand around Alves's coffin as they mourn during her funeral in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil on September 6, 2019. Police said Alves was severely burned in an attack by her boyfriend and later died in a hospital from her injuries. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
X-ray images of a woman who said she was punched in the face and body by her ex-boyfriend are pictured at Hospital Municipal Dr. Moacyr Rodrigues do Carmo in Duque de Caxias. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
X-ray images of a woman who said she was punched in the face and body by her ex-boyfriend are pictured at Hospital Municipal Dr. Moacyr Rodrigues do Carmo in Duque de Caxias. [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Paulo Cesar da Conceicao, who runs CR Homem, a rehabilitation centre for men involved in domestic violence, leads a group session in Duque de Caxias. Conceicao said that, in group sessions, his team guides conversations to help men see their own responsibility for domestic abuse: "The men arrive in the group very closed and resistant, and we try to break that down." [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Paulo Cesar da Conceicao, who runs CR Homem, a rehabilitation centre for men involved in domestic violence, leads a group session in Duque de Caxias. Conceicao said that, in group sessions, his team guides conversations to help men see their own responsibility for domestic abuse: "The men arrive in the group very closed and resistant, and we try to break that down." [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]

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