The role of the Public Defense combating practices thata disqualify the victim in criminal proceedings involving violence against women

Abstract

This article aims to articulate bibliographic and documentary research actions, as a way of combating with secondary victimization, naturalized in processes involving violence against women. In May 2024, in the judgment of Action for Non-compliance with Fundamental Precept n. 1107, the Federal Supreme Court prohibited practices that disqualify women during the investigation and trial of crimes against sexual dignity and extended this prohibition to all crimes involving violence against women. In general terms, given the decision of the Supreme Court and the provisions of article 28 of the Maria da Penha Law that guarantees women´s acess, in situations of violence, to qualified legal assistance via the Public Defense, the aim is to evaluate the role of the Public Defense in combating sexist practices of the criminal justice system, and propose the improvement of mechanisms for accessing justice for victims of gender-based violence. The research was organized from an epistemic and methodological perspective of Decolonial Feminism, which starts from the understanding that violence against these women is part of a project of colonial and racist domination, which subordinates women. In this way, the Public Defense presents itself as a guarantor of respect for a trial that does not reproduce gender stereotypes (race, social class, among others) and that protects the victim, whether in the face of the attacks suffered, or in the case of possible institutional violence.