South America

On March 9, 2015, Brazil’s existing Penal Code was amended to criminalize femicide, with sentencing ranging from twelve to thirty years of imprisonment. The new legislation defined femicide as a sex-based homicide committed against women, with the involvement of domestic violence, discrimination or contempt for women. The crime is aggravated if the victim is a pregnant woman, a woman within the first three months of maternity, a girl under the age of fourteen years or a woman over sixty years of age.

This law prohibits any discrimination based on sex, origin,  race, color, marital status, family status, disability, professional rehabilitation, age, among others, regarding the access to, or maintenance of, the employment relationship. Article 1 prohibits any discriminatory practices for the effect of access to employment (except with respect to minimum age, in order to prevent child labor).

This law amends the Civil Code, to allow for the civil registry to deal with both consensual divorce and consensual separation so that divorce, separation, and inventory and division of assets would become extra-judicial affairs when the parties agree. This means that the process of getting a divorce became significantly easier and more accessible due to the lower financial costs and the decrease in the complexity of procedures.

This law created a tax benefit available for private companies that (1) offer an additional 60 days of maternity leave in addition to the mandatory 120 days set forth in Decree No. 5.452/1943; (2) offer an additional 15 days of paternity leave in addition to the mandatory five days. The tax benefit is the deduction of the employee's full remuneration paid on the days of the extension of their leave. The benefit also applies for adoptions.

This law amends Article 1,520 of the Civil Code in order to establish that only persons who have reached the age of marriage determined in article 1,517 of the Civil Code may marry. Article 1,517 of the Civil Code provides that a man and woman who have not reached the age of majority may marry at age 16 if they have received authorization from both of their parents or their legal representatives.

Law No. 10,224, of May 15, 2001, amending the Penal Code to establish the crime of sexual harassment

The Brazilian Penal Code was amended to introduce Article 216-A, which defines sexual harassment as the act of constraining someone with the intent of obtaining a sexual advantage or favor by taking advantage of a position of hierarchical superiority or influence associated with employment, office, or function. The punishment for this offense is detention from one to two years. This law took effect on the date of its publication.

Federal Law No. 11.340/2006 commonly known as “Lei Maria da Penha” (or Maria da Penha Act) creates a new body of legal provisions regarding domestic and familiar violence against women in Brazil and requires that public authorities develop policy and measures that aim to guarantee women's human rights within the scope of domestic and family relations. The law also addresses urgent protective measures for victims.

The law defines domestic and familiar violence against women as any action or inaction based on gender that results in death, injury, physical, sexual or psychological suffering, or moral or property damage within the domestic unit (space for the permanent conviviality of people, with or without family ties), within a family unit (individuals who are or consider themselves to be related, united by natural ties, affinity, or express will) or within any intimate relationship, regardless of cohabitation.

The law decrees that a judge shall determine, for a defined period of time, the inclusion of the woman in a situation of domestic and family violence in the registry of assistance programs of the federal, state and municipal government. (Article 9). Article 10-A sets guidelines on how the victim's assistance will be handled by the police authority and guarantees specialized police and forensic care to be provided by previously trained officers - preferably female.

The law states that a judge may determine, within 48 hours, urgent protective measures (suspension of the aggressor’s license to carry weapon, removal of the aggressor from the home, keeping distance from the victim, among others), depending on the situation. (Article 18 and 22). In addition, the judge may, when necessary, impose other measures to protect the victim, such as direct the victim and her dependents to an official or community program of protection or assistance, or return of the victim and her dependents to their home after removal of the aggressor, among others.