Trans woman to be protected by law for crimes against women

An appellate court in São Paulo ruled Monday (Oct. 19) that Brazil's specific piece of legislation aimed at the protection of women, known as the Maria da Penha Law, should apply to a trans woman threatened by her former partner. The ruling stipulates that the man will not be allowed to come near the victim, her relatives or witnesses in the case.

According to the court, the victim had been in a relationship with the man for nearly a year. After it was over, he started verbally attacking her and threatening her. The woman filed a police report and asked for judicial assistance.

Her request had been rejected by a lower court, which alleged that the victim was biologically male and thus not protected by the Maria da Penha Law.

During a trial at the appellate court, Judge Ely Amioka, rapporteur in the case, determined that the piece of legislation should be given a wider interpretation, rather than harming the dignity of the human person.

“The word 'woman,' found in the piece of legislation in question, refers to both female sex and gender,” she declared. “It is, therefore, as a woman, as the ex-girlfriend, that the petitioner has come to be threatened by the man, who feels outraged with the end of the relationship. She has suffered domestic and family violence perpetrated by her former boyfriend in such a way that the application of the norms found in the Maria da Penha Law prove necessary in the case in question, as the vulnerability of her position in the relationship has been proven,” she added.

The decision was made by majority vote.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira