lei penal e processo

Articles 154-158 prohibit 1) anyone, without the pregnant woman’s consent, to provoke or cause a miscarriage; 2) anyone, with the pregnant woman’s consent, to perform or assist with an abortion; and 3) any pregnant woman from, by any means, participating or consenting to an abortion. These three felonies carry sentences of 2-8 years, 1-5 years, and 5 years of imprisonment, respectively. (article 154). Article 155 provides for increased sentences if the abortion harms the woman’s physical integrity or causes death.

Article 160(b) establishes that perpetrators of female genital mutilation are subject to sentences of 2-10 years in prison.

Artigo 160(b) estabelece que os autores de mutilação genital feminine estão sujeitos a sentenças de 2-10 anos de prisão.

The promotion or facilitation of prostitution involve taking advantage of the victim’s economic necessity or vulnerability or coerce the victim by means of violence, threat or fraud pursuant to article 189, and it is punished with a sentence of 1-8 years of imprisonment. If the facilitation or coercion to prostitution is made in a foreign country, the crime committed falls within article 190, i.e. human sexual trafficking, which command a higher sentencing of up to 10 years in prison.

The law distinguishes the crimes of “sexual aggression” and “sexual aggression with penetration.” A person commits the crime of sexual aggression (article 182) if (i) he or she practices a sexual act by means of coercion, violence, or threat against someone, including a spouse, or (ii) he or she enables another person to commit such act against a third person and the sentence ranges from six months to four years of imprisonment.

Articles 213-220 prohibit certain actions intended to violate someone’s honor, which include insult, defamation, and slander, and mandate penalties ranging from 6-12 months imprisonment and fines. The articles provide for increased penalties if the insults/offensive judgments offend someone’s race, color, ethnicity, place of birth, sex, sexual orientation, disease, disability, or religion.

The Penal Code establishes penalties of six months to six years for those who in a meeting, public place, or through any means of dissemination or communication with the public, incite hatred against a person or group of persons because of their race, color, ethnicity, place of birth, sex, belief or religion, political or ideological convictions, social condition or origin or other cause, with the purpose of discriminating against them.

This section outlines the punishments for prostitution. Anyone who promotes or facilitates prostitution by a woman is subject to one-two years in prison, but anyone who promotes another’s prostitution through violence, fraud, abuse of authority, or exploitation of the other’s situation is punishable with two-eight years in prison. Whomever habitually partakes in prostitution with someone under the age of 18 can be imprisoned from two-eight years or be fined for up to one year.

This section describes the circumstances and consequences for interrupting a woman’s pregnancy, and formalities for non-punishable abortion. Anyone who aborts a child without the woman’s consent can be imprisoned from three months to two years, and up to one year with her consent. A woman who performs an abortion on herself or a health professional who abuses their position to provide an abortion is punishable with imprisonment up to two years.

The defendant, a nurse, was charged with the crimes of indecent assault and abortion, for which he was sentenced in 2016 to cumulatively serve five years and two months in prison and ordered to pay monetary compensation to the victim, who was his niece. It was established that the defendant and the victim began a relationship when she was 15 years old and, in course of the relationship and while she was still underage, the defendant performed three abortions with the victim’s consent. On one occasion, a member of the family accidentally witnessed the abortion.

The defendant was accused of murdering his wife and sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment, in addition to paying of kz. 1.500.000,00 (1.5 million kwanzas, i.e. approximately US$ 2,300) to the victim’s family, plus court expenses. The prosecution (Ministério Público) then appealed to the Supreme Court arguing that, in accordance with the court’s own jurisprudence, the compensation amount should be risen to kz. 2.000.00,00, i.e. the equivalent of US$ 3,100.