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Brazil

2012
de Machado MRA, Rodriguez JR, Prol FM, da Silva GJ, Ganzarolli MZ, do Elias RV. Law Enforcement at Issue: Constitutionality of Maria da Penha Law in Brazilian Courts. 916th ed. SUR - International Journal on Human Rights; 2012 pp. 61-83. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.conectas.org/en/actions/sur-journal/issue/16/531-disputando-a...

This article presents the findings of a study on the Maria da Penha law, the first Brazilian law providing comprehensive measures to inhibit domestic violence against women. The objective of the study is to identify the main positions regarding the constitutionality of the Maria da Penha law (Law 11340/2006) in the Brazilian judicial system. By examining the arguments used in Courts of Justice, the authors show how the establishment of the law is not limited to the legislative act, and the Judiciary can be the stage for disputes.

2011
Spieler P. Contributions to the Debate on Domestic Violence Against Women in Brazil. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies. 2011;18 (1) :121-143. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/indjglolegstu.18.1.121?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

This article aims to demonstrate the contributions of the Maria da Penha case and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Report of 2001 to the debate on domestic violence against women in Brazil, with special emphasis to the adoption of the Maria da Penha Law. The IACHR was the first international human rights organ to bring to light the problem. Beside contributing to internal changes, this case has great relevance as it was the first one of domestic violence analyzed by the Inter-American Commission. It revealed the systematic pattern of violence against women in the country. 

CEDAW. Case of Teixeira v. Brazil. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); 2011. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/jurisprudence.htm

CEDAW/C/49/D/17/2008 

On August 10 2001, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) issued its landmark decision on the Communication No. 17/2008. The case was filed by the organization Advocaci – Advocacia Cidada pelos Direitos Humanos and the Center for Reproductive Rights against the state of Brazil on November 30th 2007. This is the first decision establishing states’  international responsibility on preventable maternal death case within the UN Human Rights System.

2006
Pimentel S, Pandjiarjian V, Belloque J. “Legitimate Defense of Honor” - Illegitimate Impunity of Murders - A Critical Study of the Legislation and the Case Law in Latin America. In: Vida em família: uma perspectiva comparativa sobre "crimes de honra". Núcleo de Estudos de Gênero Pagu Universidade Estadual de Campinas ; 2006. pp. 135-208. Publisher's VersionAbstract
The theme of this article concerns “crimes of honor” – from a feminist, socio-legal perspective of gender and human rights point of view – involving different aspects relating to how the national legislation treats discrimination, especially crimes of violence against women, and, specifically, the way the national courts apply this legislation to concrete cases. Although there were international, regional and national advances in relation to the subject, especially during the nineties, there are still legislation and legal decisions, even in the twenty first century, violating women’s human rights, being marked by the impunity of the offenders and by the incorporation of stereotypes, prejudices and discriminations against women who are victims of violence.