The 61 punched punches against Juliana Garcia, in the city of Natal (RN), last Saturday (26), shocked Brazil in the face of violence caught by a camera in the elevator of the building. The perpetrator, her boyfriend, Igor Cabral, was arrested in the act. The episode, which caught the attention of the whole country, brings out the escalation of violence in the country against women: both for what is recorded and in the case of Juliana, as well as the subjective aspects that are not possible to account for. 
One of the reasons why the crime drew attention was the repeated blows on the victim’s face, who was helpless and lying on the elevator floor. According to experts heard by Agência Brasil, the act carries a symbolism anchored in macho culture. “Aggressors usually attack the feminine of the human body (including) face, breasts and belly as a message that that body belongs to them,” says the prosecutor of the São Paulo Public Prosecutor (MP-SP), Valéria Scarance. She points out that aggressors practice acts of violence imbued with a sense of possession and superiority in relation to women.
Anthropologist Analba Brazão, who is an educator of the SOS Corpo – Feminist Institute for Democracy, considers that these attacks against women in regions such as the face aim to disfigure the victim.
“Reaching the face also shows power. He wants to annihilate that woman and make her brand visible,” he laments.
These violence in the body of women and the expression of the feminine have a striking symbolism, as pointed out by Télia Negrão, a researcher at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). This is what happens when criminals mutilate, for example, the breasts or the genitals. “There are even kicks in the woman’s belly area as a way to destroy her later reproductive capacity,” says Télia, who is part of the feminist uprising against femicide and transfeminicide.
Four women killed per day
According to the last Brazilian Public Security Yearbookreleased last week, There was a new increase in the number of femicides, which reached 1,492 cases in 2024. The number represents four deaths of women a day. It is the largest amount of this type of crime since 2015, the beginning of the historical series. According to the survey, 63.6% of the victims were black. In addition, 70.5% were between 18 and 44 years old and eight out of ten were killed by companions or former companions. Femicides in the house are majority (64.3%).
The cases of femicide attempted, such as Juliana, in Natal, were 3870 last year, 19% more than the previous year. The aggressions recorded against women were 256,584 cases (in 2023) to 257,659 (last year).
For prosecutor Valéria Scarance, from MP-SP, since Maria da Penha Law A “new time” was established in Brazil, where violence against women left the private scope and gained public domain. “Before, it was common for people not to comment on a ‘couple fight’. But today society is aware of these violence, including those that were considered less serious,” he contextualizes.
At the same time as the Brazilian legislation It is considered one of the best in the world in combating femicide, researchers point out that misogyny speeches, even public authorities, grew up with the rise of far -right parties in the world, including Brazil. Valéria Scarance analyzes that increased violence against women would be a kind of reaction from society’s macho structure to empowerment and strengthening of women – what she calls the “backlash or retaliation” phenomenon. Anthropologist Analba Brazão sees an antipheminist movement in society for a structural machismo that relegates women to a secondary role.
Cycle and climbing violence
Prosecutor Valéria Scarance, who is also a researcher of the gender theme, violence against women and femicide, explains that, in the intimate scope, The most severe violence happen when there is the end of the relationship or when the victim does not meet the aggressor’s orders or desires. “These men are both egocentric and insecure because any conduct of the victim – lipstick, wearing new clothes, working, having friends, smiling – can be interpreted by them as an act of disrespect or betrayal,” he exemplifies. The prosecutor contextualizes that, at first, the aggressions occur in little visible places. “But as violence evolves, attackers punches the face, kicks on their body, pull their hair, tighten the victims’ neck.”
One of the data released in the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook exemplifies the challenges to ensure the safety of Brazilian women: At least 121 victims were killed in 2023 and 2024 while under active urgent protective measures.
“Every 15 seconds, a woman is being beaten in Brazil. And there are usually no cameras like the case that has been caught in Natal. It happens in isolated areas at home,” says Analba Brazão, who argues more public policies to stimulate new complaints. “Many cases are not notified. We need to know, for example, how many femicide orphans exist,” says the researcher, who works in Recife (PE). “This week, here in Pernambuco, a manicure was stabbed to death, also on the face and other parts of the body. She was with urgent protective measure,” he laments.
Télia Negrão understands that deeper public policies are needed that can promote a cultural change. “We have judgments that have raised punishments due to aggravating. And yet we do not have a reduction in femicide or violence. We need cultural change,” believes the researcher who works in Rio Grande do Sul.
Denunciations
Researcher in Criminal Law and Coordinator of Quilombo, organization of the black movement in Rio Grande do Norte, Dalvaci Neves says that more than 1,000 women were victims of femicide in Rio Grande do Norte, between 2013 and 2023 – 80% were black. “It is a portrait of our social picture, racism and machismo that we black women face.” According to her, in the state, there are only 12 specialized police stations to serve women in more than 160 municipalities. “There are many women in the countryside and without access to report.”
The lack of specialized police stations is not just a problem from Rio Grande do Norte. Throughout the country, according to a survey by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security released this year, there are only 488 specialized police stations, and only 204 of them serve exclusively women. Of this total, 46.4% are in the Southeast.
Still in the field of public policies, the researcher argues that more discussion about gender violence in schools. “The National Education Plan will now be voted [no Congresso Nacional]. We need to have an education to combat racism, and that also discuss gender. But we still have many parliamentarians who don’t want this theme to be included, ”he says.
Dalvaci recommends that women who are victims complain, even in apparently less severe cases such as disrespects and curses, which configure psychological violence. She also emphasizes the importance that people do not silence when they are witnesses of violence. “This way we can avoid femicide in the future,” he says.
How to denounce
If the woman is a victim of violence or if a witness witnesses any kind of aggression, she can report by the Women’s Care Center, Ligue 180, which is open 24 hours a day, every day of the week. The free and accessible service throughout the country.
Through this channel, it is possible to receive guidance on the laws, rights and services of the Network of Care, such as the Brazilian Women’s House, the Centers of References, the Precincts of Women’s Service (DEAM), the Public Defenders and the Integrated Nuclei of Women Care.
The Ligue 180 register and refer to complaints to the organs. You can connect anywhere in Brazil or trigger the channel via chat on WhatsApp (61) 9610-0180.
In emergency cases, the orientation is immediately to trigger the Military Police through the number 190, throughout Brazil.
Another available path is via the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights by the WhatsApp channel (61) 99656-5008. It works 24 hours to denounce any kind of violence.
