The recent wave of violence against women is the visible part of a social structure that enslaves them and which must be dismantled if we are to find an effective solution to this problem which should have already been banned from society, because it is unethical, inhumane and anachronistic.
Although violence against women spans centuries, femicide only began to be recorded in Brazil in 2015, with the publication of the Femicide Law. The crime is defined as capital homicide and involves domestic and family violence, as well as contempt or discrimination against women.
Research on violence against women carried out by DataSenado reveals that 3,700,000 (three million seven hundred thousand) women suffered some form of violence in Brazil in 2025. If we gathered all the victims in one place, we would have the third most populous city in the country, behind São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which gives a measure of the real dimension of violence against women in our country and the challenges we face face.
Research shows that 7 in 10 victims say children were present during the attack. What marks, traumas, fears and references will accompany these children throughout their lives? To what extent will they reproduce an experience that marked their childhood? What themes are more important and more urgent than these in the formation of our children and young people?
Another survey, this one from the ICS (Sustainable Cities Institute), asks what priority measures should be adopted to prevent violence against women from leading to femicide, and 6 out of 10 people respond that sanctions should be increased; 4 out of 10 ten, that it is necessary to speed up the progress of investigations. Faced with established fear, punishment appears to be the short-term alternative for the majority of the population.
It is important to take advantage of these moments to try to advance the debate on the root causes of such an anachronistic subject today. In this sense, violence against women is structural and organizes society and power relations.
This shows up in companies that pay salaries 20% lower than women in the same positions held by men, and in a smaller number of women in decision-making positions, compared to men.
This also appears in political representation where women occupy positions in a lower proportion than their participation in society. The National Congress has 91 federal deputies spread over 513 seats, or only 18% of its composition. In the Senate, it is no different: 13 senators for 81 seats, and the same representation of 18% in a country which has 51.5% women. Society loses a lot with this waste of diversity in the power that formulates the laws of the country.
The State is a producer of this type of violence because it is incapable of reducing the shameful figure which reveals that every 8 minutes a woman is raped in Brazil, the majority of victims being children and adolescents.
In addition, the majority of cases remain unresolved or take a long time to be concluded, reflecting a speed of response that is disproportionate to the importance of the problem that affects a large proportion of women in the country. In addition to conveying a feeling of impunity, encouraging a perverse cycle of violence.
In the context of family relations, it is worth highlighting the disproportionate division of domestic labor, childcare and elderly care which results in a double or triple of working hours, in addition to the submission and renunciation of women to many of their plans and desires.
It is important to emphasize that changing this situation is primarily a challenge for men. It is our duty to recognize and assume this task. In a society steeped in machismo, it is up to men to recognize that it is necessary to take a central role towards a society free of violence against women, which means changing their daily behavior: in non-negotiable respect, in inappropriate jokes, in toxic work relationships, and living up to their role in the training of daughters and sons.
All these themes highlight a structuring problem which must, as such, be faced. There is an established culture that begins long before acts of violence occur. We are facing a serious illness in society, which must be addressed with all the necessary knowledge, tools and urgency.
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