More than half of the women victims of femicide in the Federal District in the last ten years had already suffered domestic violence before dying. The data appears in the study of suspects/perpetrators of femicide committed in the DF, prepared by the Secretariat of Public Security of the DF (SSP-DF).
Since 2015, when the law on femicide came into force, 226 women have been killed in the Federal District. 144 of them (64%) suffered domestic violence before being fatally attacked.
However, of these 144 victims, only 48.1% had filed a police report or testified in court indicating that they had been the target of domestic violence. In other words, 16% of women who were attacked at home and then killed did not officially record these attacks.
The data proves the underreporting of cases of domestic violence in the Federal District, which, for the Secretariat, is a “critical factor in the prevention of femicide” and highlights the importance of denouncing the aggressor.
Still according to the SSP-DF, the absence of official registration of cases of domestic violence “should not be interpreted as an absence of risk” and obliges protection organizations to “act with sensitivity and attention to informal reports and indirect signs of aggression”.
“Analysis of the history of domestic violence shows that, although a significant portion of victims do not have a prior criminal record, 48.1% had a history of assault, identified through incident files, statements and elements contained in procedural documents. If we also consider victims who report previous episodes of violence, even without formalization, this percentage rises to 64%, highlighting that underreporting is a critical factor in prevention of femicide”, indicates the investigation.
The study covers the period between March 2015 and August 2025.
36% of murderers used drugs
The same SSP-DF compilation highlights that 220 men have been identified as perpetrators of femicide within the DF over the last 10 years. Of this total, at least 36.4% were under the influence of illicit substances at the time of the crime.
Of the perpetrators, 31.4% reported consuming alcohol at the time of the crime, while 36.4% reported using illicit drugs. Among the authors who had information on the use of narcotics, cocaine (54%) and marijuana (38%) stood out.
Delegate Marcelo Zago Ferreira, coordinator of the technical chamber for monitoring homicides and feminicides of the SSP-DF, points out that there is also under-reporting in this section of drug and alcohol consumption. Indeed, it is not always possible to confirm, throughout the investigation, whether the attacker consumed one or other of these substances.
“We start from a minimum number. In the study, at least 31% were under the influence of alcohol and at least 38% under the influence of drugs. But this percentage could be higher, because this information is often not collected at any stage of the process,” explains Ferreira. “The suspect is not always subjected to a forensic examination. Sometimes the identification of use is simple, when there is obvious intoxication. In other cases, no.”
Case of femicide
The Federal District has reached the tragic milestone of 26 femicides recorded in 2025. The number of crimes already exceeds the number of cases that occurred in the country’s capital throughout last year, when 22 women saw their lives interrupted due to gender-based violence.
The data is part of the Femicide panel, powered by SSP-DF. Until the last update, on December 19, of the total number of femicides recorded in 2025, 22 cases had been confirmed, while four deaths are still being analyzed and could see their classification modified.
The most recent case was recorded on December 5, within the 1st Cavalry Regiment of the Guard, in the Urban Military Sector (SMU), in a Brazilian army barracks. The victim is Corporal Maria de Lourdes Freire Matos, 25 years old.
Maria de Lourdes was stabbed to death by Kelvin Barros da Silva, 21, then a soldier, who started a fire in the room where the victim was killed and then fled. He was captured a few hours later at his home and has been in preventive detention ever since.
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