Abstract

The article aimed to develop an argumentative reflection on how the positions of the former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, may have had negative effects on the lives of women exposed to violence and the risk of femicide, especially considering the pandemic period. First, advances in recent decades in terms of legislation and programs to protect women victims of violence in Brazil are described. Next, we discuss how Bolsonaro’s policies, such as the defense of the population’s armament, aggravate the scenario and represent a setback in terms of public policies aimed at women’s rights, mainly due to the experiences arising from the period of social isolation. Even with this context, in the last part, we present some initiatives, from civil society and other segments, which have resisted and faced the alarming rates that have emerged in the country, especially in cases of femicide. The future analysis of these experiences can bring lessons on how to intervene in cases where victims remain for long periods in the presence of the aggressor, as well as they can bring us important lessons about the power of a society and groups that strongly oppose the speeches of a leader policy concerning women’s fundamental rights.

Keywords:
Women; Violence; Feminicides; Social Isolation; COVID-19

Introduction

Along the historical path of Brazilian society, a series of atrocities and forms of violation of women’s rights can be noted. Until 1995, for example, if a man committed an act of violence against a woman, such as rape, but for some reason if he married her, there was no accountability of the aggressor (Law n. 2848, 1940). The lack of legislation legitimized the violation of women’s rights, who did not have the legal apparatus to claim their rights and break off abusive relationships, especially in the domestic context. Marital violence proved to be a constant in women’s coexistence with their partners since there was a structured silencing of the victims (Cardoso; Brito, 2015CARDOSO, F. S.; BRITO, L. M. T. Possíveis impasses da Lei Maria da Penha à convivência parental. Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia, v. 15, n. 2, p. 529-546, 2015. Disponível em: http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-42812015000200006&lng=pt&tlng=pt. Acesso em: 22 ago. 2020.
http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?scr... ).

A sad episode would mark the struggle of women and other social segments in the fight against domestic violence. In 1983, in the state of Ceará (Brazil), the pharmacist Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes suffered an attempted murder with a firearm by her spouse. Two weeks later, while she was recovering, he then tried to electrocute her. The crime, which left her paraplegic, had repercussions in international human rights organizations due to the slowness of the judicial process and, because of the possibility of prescribing the crime committed, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accepted the complaint made by Maria da Penha before the Center for Justice and International Law and the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights. After this case, the Brazilian government was judged and condemned to create legal mechanisms to punish and restrain domestic and family violence against women (Cardoso; Brito, 2015CARDOSO, F. S.; BRITO, L. M. T. Possíveis impasses da Lei Maria da Penha à convivência parental. Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia, v. 15, n. 2, p. 529-546, 2015. Disponível em: http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-42812015000200006&lng=pt&tlng=pt. Acesso em: 22 ago. 2020.
http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?scr... ). To create specific national legislation to prevent, restrain, and eradicate violence against women, Law No. 11.340 of 7 August 2006 - popularly known as the Maria da Penha Law -, was passed in honor of the victim who established legal changes and a complex perspective for confronting domestic violence and caring for victims.

Among the measures to prevent violence, the law above determines the implementation of specialized police services for women and the promotion of educational programs that disseminate ethical values emphasizing the gender perspective (Cardoso; Brito, 2015CARDOSO, F. S.; BRITO, L. M. T. Possíveis impasses da Lei Maria da Penha à convivência parental. Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia, v. 15, n. 2, p. 529-546, 2015. Disponível em: http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-42812015000200006&lng=pt&tlng=pt. Acesso em: 22 ago. 2020.
http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?scr... ). To curb violence, Maria da Penha Law on Domestic and Family Violence provides emergency protective measures, such as the immediate removal of the aggressor and medical and psychological assistance to victims (Law n. 11.340, 2006). Currently, some courts of justice also resort to electronic monitoring devices, such as the use of the anklet by the aggressor or the panic button by the victim, which are mechanisms to control possible approaches by the aggressor to the victim (Cardoso; Brito, 2015).

Despite the remarkable advances that Maria da Penha Law brought, it was later necessary to constitute in Brazil, in 2013, a Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, which aimed to analyze the number of violent deaths of women after the implementation of this Law. The data obtained from the Commission showed that there has been a significant increase in the number of homicides of women, particularly in the domestic environment. In 2007, 5,451 cases of deaths of women were registered, and in 2011 this number rose to 22,676 murdered women (Brasil, 2013). This Commission also found that the victims’ partners mostly carried out such murders of women.

Due to the high incidence of deaths of women in the domestic environment, the discussion on the need to characterize feminicide as a crime has begun. In March 2015, the Brazilian National Congress approved and the Federal Executive sanctioned Law No. 13,104, which has been in practice since then and became known as the Feminicide Law, classifying the act as qualified homicide and a heinous crime. Cases of domestic and family violence or contempt and discrimination against the female condition started to be seen as qualifying - intensifying the criminal conduct and, consequently, the penalty charged to those who practice it (Law n. 13.104, 2015).

Even with such measures in place, epidemiological data on Brazilian reality remain alarming. The incidence of violence against women has increased annually. According to data from the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP, 2023), even with a significant number of underreporting, there have been more than 10,000 femicides in the country between 2015 and 2023. In 2023 for instance, 1,463 cases of femicide were recorded, with a growth rate of 1.6% compared to the previous year. According to the report, 2023 also recorded the highest number of women victims of this crime since the typification of the femicide law in Brazil (FBSP, 2023). In addition to this alarming situation, there are high levels of underreported cases, which, according to Okabayashi . (2020OKABAYASHI, N. Y. T. et al. Violência contra a mulher e feminicídio no Brasil - impacto do isolamento social pela COVID-19. Brazilian Journal of health Review, v. 3, n. 3, p.4511-4531, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.php/BJHR/article/view/9998. Acesso em: 5 set. 2020.
https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.... ), occur due to the lack of support for women in the health system, the justice system, public security, and social assistance, that is, in the services of victim care.

It is remarkable that, despite the advances made in the legal sphere, violence against women and feminicide are problems that persist in Brazilian reality. This situation was accentuated by the need for social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced women victims of violence to spend more time with their aggressors. In this scenario of adversity and to the detriment of the establishment of policies to combat this harmful reality, Brazilian society followed the emergence of innocuous speeches by the then-president between 2019 and 2022, which accentuated discussions about gender-based violence in the country, once his positioning became women even more vulnerable to suffer violence and feminicide.

Fighting a president and a virus

Even in front of social and legal advances, the history of the fight for women’s rights and protection suffers interference from the political conjuncture of the country. Beauvoir (1975BEAUVOIR, S. de. “Por que sou feminista”. Entrevistado por Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber. Programa Questionnaire, 1975. Disponível em: http://prceu.usp.br/uspdiversidade/genero/simone-de-beauvoir-porque-sou-feminista-1975 . Acesso em: 15 jul. 2020.
http://prceu.usp.br/uspdiversidade/gener... ), during an interview with the French program Questionnaire, stated that “[...] a political, economic or religious crisis is enough to question women’s rights. These rights are not permanent”. With Bolsonaro's election in 2019, Brazil experienced a setback in terms of social rights achieved (Vazquez, 2019). The fascist rhetoric of the state representative in this period, including misogynistic and derogatory speeches towards women, drastically threatened the historic struggle of social movements to defend women’s rights. Throughout his government, the former president not only declared his positions in line with liberal politics but also expressed himself through racist, homophobic, sexist, and xenophobic speeches (Vazquez, 2019).

Faced with this scenario, according to the Atlas of Violence (IPEA; FBSP, 2019), the rates of violence against women in the country, which have always been high, have increased considerably during the pandemic. In 2018, a period in which ultraconservative political debates were already in vogue due to the elections, one case of violence against women was registered every two minutes, an increase of 11.3% in feminicides (FBSP, 2019). By 2019, one case of feminicide was registered every seven hours, reaching a total of 1,314 cases in the year, the highest number ever registered since the Feminicide Law came into force (Velasco; Caesar; Reis, 2020VELASCO, C.; CAESAR, G.; REIS, T. Mesmo com queda recorde de mortes de mulheres, Brasil tem alta no número de feminicídios em 2019. G1, 2020. Disponível em: https://g1.globo.com/monitor-da-violencia/noticia/2020/03/05/mesmo-com-queda-recorde-de-mortes-de-mulheres-brasil-tem-alta-no-numero-de-feminicidios-em-2019.ghtml. Acesso em: 18 ago. 2020.
https://g1.globo.com/monitor-da-violenci... ). The increase in domestic violence and feminicide, combined with former president Bolsonaro’s fascist speeches, quickly spread and consequently naturalized violence and feminicide in society (Vazquez, 2019).

If the underreporting of existing data in Brazil is considered, the number of women who are victims of violence and feminicide is scandalous. Even with cases not reported to the public authorities, the country is among those with the highest rate of female homicide in the world (Waiselfisz, 2015WAISELFISZ, J. J. Mapa da violência 2015: homicídio de mulheres no Brasil. Mapa da violência, Brasília, v. 1, n. 1, p. 1-83, 2015. Disponível em: http://www.onumulheres.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/MapaViolencia_2015_mulheres.pdf. Acesso em: 25 ago. 2020.
http://www.onumulheres.org.br/wp-content... ). Of the reported cases, 88.8% of the crimes were committed by the victims' intimate partners and half of the cases were consummated with the use of firearms (IPEA; FBSP, 2019; FBSP, 2019). This information becomes even more worrying when you have a government that advocates repealing the disarmament statute and facilitating the possession of gun weapons.

The former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, openly advocated for an arms policy since the election period, and this was one of his party’s biggest flags. When he took office in 2019, Bolsonaro invested heavily in approving more flexible firearms possession (Vazquez, 2019). In January 2019, a decree (No. 9,685) was signed altering the control of registration of possession and sale of firearms and ammunition in the Brazilian territory, making access and possession of weapons easier. Given the rates of violence against women and feminicide that already exist in the country, researchers questioned to what extent facilitating access to arms contributed to an even greater number of cases of feminicide (Vazquez, 2019).

Studies have shown that a certain arms policy influences the number of cases of feminicide so that countries whose policies are most easily accessible are those with the highest rates of female gun homicide (Siegel; Rothman, 2016SIEGEL, M. B.; ROTHMAN, E. F. Firearm Ownership and the Murder of Women in the United States: Evidence That the State-Level Firearm Ownership Rate Is Associated with the Nonstranger Femicide Rate. Violence and Gender, v. 3, n. 1, p. 20-26, 2016. DOI:10.1089/vio.2015.0047. Acesso em: 15 jul. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2015.0047... ; Zeoli; Malinski Brenner, 2017ZEOLI, A. M.; MALINSKI, R.; BRENNER, H. The Intersection of Firearms and Intimate Partner Homicide in 15 Nations. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, v. 21, n. 1, p. 1-12, 2017. DOI:10.1177/1524838017738725. Acesso em: 15 jul. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838017738725... ). In the United States, a country that has been prominent due to its policy of releasing weapons, most cases of feminicide are committed by intimate partners with firearms (Zeoli; Malinski; Brenner, 2017). One study indicated that in the U.S. gun homicide rates are 41% higher for women and identified that for every 10% increase in gun ownership in a state, female homicide rates also rise 10.2% (Siegel; Rothman, 2016). Faced with the possible links between the flexibilization of arms policy and the increase in feminicides, it is necessary to consider how much facilitating access to arms possession in Brazil increased cases of violence and homicide of women during the pandemic. In an extremely unequal country and with the institutional legitimacy given by former president Bolsonaro through patriarchal discourses, the release of weapons may encourage even more threats to the lives of Brazilian women (Bandeira, 2019BANDEIRA, A. R. Armas para quê: O uso de armas de fogo por civis no Brasil e no mundo, e o que isso tem a ver com a sua segurança. 1. ed. São Paulo: Leya, 2019.).

Former president Bolsonaro’s speech to justify the release of firearms in Brazil was that citizens have the right to self-defense, even without studies that prove such arguments (Bandeira, 2019BANDEIRA, A. R. Armas para quê: O uso de armas de fogo por civis no Brasil e no mundo, e o que isso tem a ver com a sua segurança. 1. ed. São Paulo: Leya, 2019.). Research indicates that the more weapons are released to the population, the more crimes are reported, especially cases of violence and murders of women (Siegel; Rothman, 2016SIEGEL, M. B.; ROTHMAN, E. F. Firearm Ownership and the Murder of Women in the United States: Evidence That the State-Level Firearm Ownership Rate Is Associated with the Nonstranger Femicide Rate. Violence and Gender, v. 3, n. 1, p. 20-26, 2016. DOI:10.1089/vio.2015.0047. Acesso em: 15 jul. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2015.0047... ; Vazquez, 2019). International data identified that access to weapons increases the risk of feminicide by 500% and in Brazil more than 60% of cases were committed with firearms (Bandeira, 2019). Therefore, the encouragement of the then-Brazilian government to make weapons more flexible created conditions for the deepening of oppression, violence, and murder of women (Vazquez, 2019).

The Sou da Paz Institute (2021) presented a report that analyzed policies on the possession of firearms regarding violence against women. According to this document, the increase in weapons generally has a multiplying effect on gender-based violence, including the increase in lethality against women, but also in other forms of violation, such as psychological and sexual abuse. One of the discourses spread among common sense in Brazil, endorsed by the former president and his allies to justify the flexibility of accessibility to weapons, was that women would also have a defense tool by carrying weapons. However, these narratives are flawed. Firstly, because most aggressors are people close to the victim, reducing the likelihood of the victim using weapons to defend themselves against someone meaningful to them. Furthermore, many women victims of violence depend financially on the aggressors, which would make it difficult for them to have access to a weapon due to a lack of their resources (G1, 2019). Therefore, although these narratives try to present the release of weapons as a protective mechanism for women, previous investigations do not corroborate these statements. Victimization in places with easy access to firearms increased and even triggered consequences that permeate different areas of women’s lives.

In addition to these political issues, the spread of the new COVID-19 virus and the global pandemic that demanded social isolation exposed women even more to risk situations in Brazil (and in other countries worldwide). Social isolation, which was established to prevent the mass spread of the disease, ends up subjecting women victims of violence to remain for long periods in their homes, in constant coexistence with the aggressor, which increased the number of cases of feminicide (Marques , 2020MARQUES, E. S.; MORAES, C. L.; HASSELMANN, M. H.; DESLANDES, S. F.; REICHENHEIM, M. E. A violência contra mulheres, crianças e adolescentes em tempos de pandemia pela COVID-19: panorama, motivações e formas de enfrentamento. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, v. 36, n. 4, p. e00074420, 2020. DOI: 10.1590/0102-311x00074420 . Acesso em: 3 set. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311x0007442... ). This situation has been identified by organizations dedicated to confronting domestic violence in the country, which have observed an increase in cases due to a combination of factors caused by social isolation, such as constant coexistence with the aggressor, economic stress, and lack of access to protection services (Vieira; Garcia; Maciel, 2020VIEIRA, P. R.; GARCIA, L. P.; MACIEL, E. L. N. Isolamento social e o aumento da violência doméstica: o que isso nos revela? Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, v. 23, p. e200033, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQhqQyjtQM3hXRywsTn/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 12 jan. 2020.
https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQh... ).

During the quarantine period, an increase of around 9% of reports of violence against women made by the national service for reporting cases of rights violations was identified (Okabayashi ., 2020OKABAYASHI, N. Y. T. et al. Violência contra a mulher e feminicídio no Brasil - impacto do isolamento social pela COVID-19. Brazilian Journal of health Review, v. 3, n. 3, p.4511-4531, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.php/BJHR/article/view/9998. Acesso em: 5 set. 2020.
https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.... ). In the state of São Paulo alone, the epicenter of the pandemic in Brazil, a 38% increase in cases of feminicide was observed compared to the first quarter of 2019 (SSP-SP, 2020). However, even with this growth in cases of feminicide, the same has not happened with the occurrences of domestic violence, which can be the result of living with the aggressor and the impossibility of denouncing them or asking for help (Okabayashi et al., 2020).

The difficulty in denouncing and achieving protection for victims has been a global problem, as access to social assistance, health, security, and justice services has been reduced due to social isolation (Vieira; Garcia; Maciel, 2020VIEIRA, P. R.; GARCIA, L. P.; MACIEL, E. L. N. Isolamento social e o aumento da violência doméstica: o que isso nos revela? Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, v. 23, p. e200033, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQhqQyjtQM3hXRywsTn/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 12 jan. 2020.
https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQh... ). In Brazil, most of the victims of violence are black women, with low schooling and who live in places without efficient public security. Thus, the underreporting of cases is aggravated because these women, who normally already live with the lack of access to services, during social isolation find themselves even more helpless by the protection systems (Okabayashi ., 2020OKABAYASHI, N. Y. T. et al. Violência contra a mulher e feminicídio no Brasil - impacto do isolamento social pela COVID-19. Brazilian Journal of health Review, v. 3, n. 3, p.4511-4531, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.php/BJHR/article/view/9998. Acesso em: 5 set. 2020.
https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.... ), as well as threatened by the virus and the former president’s sexist speeches.

Fighting initiatives

Despite the adverse context resulting from the pandemic and the actions of the former president, a series of initiatives were adopted to support victims of violence in Brazil. In this section, some of these actions will be described as examples of successful articulations that reveal the power of civil society, social entities, public power, and private initiative around actions against violence and feminicide. These examples may inspire practitioners and public policies in general in the future, in cases of similar social crises and when the victims stay for long periods with the perpetrators.

Changes and adaptation in the mode of care

Institutions that care for women victims of violence have faced the need to rethink their mode of service. The first vehicle of complaint sought by victims is usually health and public safety agencies such as police stations (Vieira; Garcia; Maciel, 2020VIEIRA, P. R.; GARCIA, L. P.; MACIEL, E. L. N. Isolamento social e o aumento da violência doméstica: o que isso nos revela? Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, v. 23, p. e200033, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQhqQyjtQM3hXRywsTn/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 12 jan. 2020.
https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQh... ). However, due to the pandemic, the difficulties in accessing these services have intensified, both due to reduced supply of services and the fear of victims seeking help and exposing themselves to contagion (Okabayashi ., 2020OKABAYASHI, N. Y. T. et al. Violência contra a mulher e feminicídio no Brasil - impacto do isolamento social pela COVID-19. Brazilian Journal of health Review, v. 3, n. 3, p.4511-4531, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.php/BJHR/article/view/9998. Acesso em: 5 set. 2020.
https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.... ).

Against this background, some instances of the public authorities have discussed proposals for reforming legislation to address violence against women. Among the most prominent proposals there is Bill No. 1798 of 2020, which authorizes the registration of occurrence of domestic violence through the Internet or emergency telephone numbers (Brasil, 2020). To receive these denunciations remotely, the Ministry of Women, the Family, and Human Rights has created digital platforms for the National Human Rights Ombudsman (Okabayashi , 2020OKABAYASHI, N. Y. T. et al. Violência contra a mulher e feminicídio no Brasil - impacto do isolamento social pela COVID-19. Brazilian Journal of health Review, v. 3, n. 3, p.4511-4531, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.php/BJHR/article/view/9998. Acesso em: 5 set. 2020.
https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.... ). These networks allowed reports to be recorded by the victims, by relatives or neighbors, and even by strangers, and evidence such as audio, photos, and videos of the assaults could be inserted into the allegation (Vieira; Garcia; Maciel, 2020VIEIRA, P. R.; GARCIA, L. P.; MACIEL, E. L. N. Isolamento social e o aumento da violência doméstica: o que isso nos revela? Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, v. 23, p. e200033, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQhqQyjtQM3hXRywsTn/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 12 jan. 2020.
https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQh... ). In the same direction, in some states of Brazil, the police stations remained open 24 hours, as well as the registration of complaints, were authorized to occur virtually in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, provided they dispense with the examination of corpus delicti (Bianquini, 2020BIANQUINI, H. Combate à violência doméstica em tempos de pandemia: o papel do Direito. Conjur, Colunas, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.conjur.com.br/2020-abr-24/direito-pos-graduacao-combate-violencia-domestica-tempos-pandemia#sdfootnote13sym. Acesso em: 30 jul. 2020.
https://www.conjur.com.br/2020-abr-24/di... ).

The provision of this service is intended to provide support to women who are victims of violence, even at a distance. However, even with the services available online, it is known that victims still could find difficulties in registering aggressions due to the constant coexistence with the aggressor and the absence of a support network, such as friends and family, who were also in isolation (WHO, 2020). In addition, researchers pointed out that confronting violence cannot be reduced to the registration of complaints (Vieira; Garcia; Maciel, 2020VIEIRA, P. R.; GARCIA, L. P.; MACIEL, E. L. N. Isolamento social e o aumento da violência doméstica: o que isso nos revela? Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, v. 23, p. e200033, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQhqQyjtQM3hXRywsTn/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 12 jan. 2020.
https://www.scielo.br/j/rbepid/a/tqcyvQh... ; WHO, 2020). The United Nations (2020) emphasized that the public authorities, when proposing long-distance service actions, must consider that complaints can be made more difficult because, besides the constant presence of the aggressor, access to the telephone or Internet is not universal for all victims. The recommendation is that, in addition to the possibility of online and telephone complaints, work teams should be maintained, which are attended in person, as well as the dissemination and availability of safety and health services (Vieira; Garcia; Maciel, 2020).

Regarding health care, which, as already mentioned, is one of the sectors of support most sought by victims, the need to have on-site teams available when possible has also been emphasized, as well as the provision of remote care (WHO, 2020). In Brazil, one health sector that mobilized and proposed adjustments for the social isolation period was Psychology. The Federal Council of Psychology (CFP) approved Resolution No. 04 (2020), which regulates the service through Information and Communication Technology during the pandemic. This decision aimed to assist in offering psychological care so that even in a period of social isolation, people in distress could receive support. In the case of women victims of domestic violence, online care makes it possible to provide psychosocial accompaniment to the victim, as well as encourage them to seek help and social support.

Another project, developed in the state of Paraná (southern Brazil), was outstanding in combating violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court of Domestic and Family Violence has adapted the routine of care for an Online Psychological Reception Shift, an unprecedented service in the national context. The contact between the victim and the professional team is made through WhatsApp, with a previously scheduled date and time. According to the Paraná State Court of Justice (2020), online psychological care was proposed because it allows for reception work, risk assessment, and referral of women to an adequate protection network, even during the isolation period. Other Brazilian states have joined the service and adapted the conditions of each region (SSP-SP, 2020; SSP-RS, 2020).

The effectiveness of this type of care was proven in the study conducted by Ruwaard . (2012RUWAARD, J. et al. The Effectiveness of Online Cognitive Behavioral Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice. PLoS ONE, v. 7, n. 7, p. e40089, 2012. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0040089. Acesso em: 15 dez. 2020.), which showed positive results in offering online psychological care. The adherence of this modality is approximately 70% to the treatment (Ruwaard et al., 2012), as well as presenting an effective control of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms (see also Barak ., 2008BARAK, A. et al. A comprehensive review and a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of internet-based psychotherapeutic interventions. Journal of Technology in Human services, v. 26, n. 2-4, p. 109-160, 2008. Acesso em: 10 jul. 2022. DOI: 10.1080 / 15228830802094429). In the case of women victims of domestic violence, the rates of anxiety, stress, and depression are high (Ferreira ., 2016FERREIRA, R. M. et al. Características de saúde de mulheres em situação de violência doméstica abrigadas em uma unidade de proteção estadual. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, v. 21, n. 12, p. 3937-3946, 2016. DOI: 10.1590/1413-812320152112.09092015. Acesso em: 20 ago. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232015211... ); therefore, online care was an alternative for support, treatment, and referral of victims to services during the quarantine. In addition, it should be noted that psychology professionals, when they become aware of indicators of domestic violence or situations of risk of feminicide, must, based on the technical references made available by the Federal Council, notify the competent authorities. They should also seek to strengthen the victim’s autonomy so that he or she can make the complaint and identify a network of support and protection so that one can leave the context of risk (CFP, 2016).

Social media and mobile applications

Digital media has also been a protagonist for some time in the propagation of actions linked to demanding movements and combating rights violation (Crossley, 2015CROSSLEY, A. D. Facebook feminism: Social media, blogs, and new technologies of contemporary US feminism. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, v. 20, n. 2, p. 253-268, 2015. DOI: 10.17813/1086-671X-20-2-253. Acesso em: 25 jul. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.17813/1086-671X-20-2-... ), especially in defending women's social rights (Fonseca; Cardoso, 2018FONSECA, I. I. A.; CARDOSO, F. da S. Ciberativismo, empoderamento feminino e novas dinâmicas de enfrentamento à violência de gênero contra à mulher. Redes: R. Eletr. Dir. Soc., v. 6, n. 1, p. 133-156, 2018. DOI: 10.18316/REDES.v6i1.4256 Acesso em: 15 ago. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.18316/REDES.v6i1.4256... ). According to Fonseca and Cardoso (2018), virtual media can help not only in the dissemination and awareness of cases of violence but also as a space for complaints and referral of victims to support institutions.

Faced with the increase of violence during the pandemic period and, knowing the difficulties in addressing the issue due to social isolation, some institutions and social projects have developed materials on prevention (Marques ., 2020MARQUES, E. S.; MORAES, C. L.; HASSELMANN, M. H.; DESLANDES, S. F.; REICHENHEIM, M. E. A violência contra mulheres, crianças e adolescentes em tempos de pandemia pela COVID-19: panorama, motivações e formas de enfrentamento. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, v. 36, n. 4, p. e00074420, 2020. DOI: 10.1590/0102-311x00074420 . Acesso em: 3 set. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311x0007442... ). These proposals achieve greater reach when shared on digital platforms, therefore, the creation of virtual materials (videos, images, animations) that portray situations of rights violations in which women may be exposed was recommended. In addition, these resources bring indicators of how to deal with violence, present services that victims can receive, and encourage the activation of people who make up the protection network (Fonseca; Cardoso, 2018FONSECA, I. I. A.; CARDOSO, F. da S. Ciberativismo, empoderamento feminino e novas dinâmicas de enfrentamento à violência de gênero contra à mulher. Redes: R. Eletr. Dir. Soc., v. 6, n. 1, p. 133-156, 2018. DOI: 10.18316/REDES.v6i1.4256 Acesso em: 15 ago. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.18316/REDES.v6i1.4256... ).

In this direction, some Brazilian institutions, non-governmental organizations and social projects have significantly intensified the production and dissemination of virtual information campaigns on the increase in violence against women and the risks of feminicide in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as their characteristics and protective strategies that could be adopted. The main digital actions have been sharing videos demonstrating threat and assault situations as well as ways to ask for help. Many videos have been developed with the support of advertising agencies (Carvalho, 2020CARVALHO, D. Mulheres formam redes de apoio contra a violência doméstica na pandemia. Uol Ecoa, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.uol.com.br/ecoa/ultimas-noticias/2020/05/08/mulheres-formam-redes-de-apoio-contra-a-violencia-domestica-na-pandemia.htm. Acesso em: 30 ago. 2020.
https://www.uol.com.br/ecoa/ultimas-noti... ).

As the purpose of the videos and campaigns was to raise awareness of domestic violence among the population, but also to provide information on support for the victims themselves, some of the materials disseminated were adapted to the pandemic context, especially since during the period of social isolation, women are under the constant control of their aggressors (Okabayashi ., 2020OKABAYASHI, N. Y. T. et al. Violência contra a mulher e feminicídio no Brasil - impacto do isolamento social pela COVID-19. Brazilian Journal of health Review, v. 3, n. 3, p.4511-4531, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.php/BJHR/article/view/9998. Acesso em: 5 set. 2020.
https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.... ). With this in mind, short videos were developed without audio, in which volunteers use only textual structures that contain information on how to report assaults and get help. In this way, victims could be informed about support channels without other people present in the same environment being able to hear (Carvalho, 2020CARVALHO, D. Mulheres formam redes de apoio contra a violência doméstica na pandemia. Uol Ecoa, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.uol.com.br/ecoa/ultimas-noticias/2020/05/08/mulheres-formam-redes-de-apoio-contra-a-violencia-domestica-na-pandemia.htm. Acesso em: 30 ago. 2020.
https://www.uol.com.br/ecoa/ultimas-noti... ).

Digital media are increasingly considered fundamental to the viability of social campaigns, such as those to combat violence against women and to prevent feminicide. This is due to the speed and reach of the videos, photos, and texts shared on the Internet, which makes its capacity for social mobilization greater than in other media (Nogueira, 2019NOGUEIRA, L. de R. Mídias sociais: uma nova porta de entrada para a violência contra a mulher. Anais da III Semana de Serviço Social: ofensiva conservadora e construção de resistências, Rio das Ostras, RJ, Brasil, 2019. Disponível em: http://ihs.sites.uff.br/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2019/08/MIDIAS-SOCIAIS-porta-de-entrada-para-violencia-contra-mulher-de-LucianaRezende.pdf. Acesso em: 20 ago. 2020.
http://ihs.sites.uff.br/wp-content/uploa... ). UN-Women (2020), given the impact of COVID-19, has emphasized the need for this broad dissemination of messages on strategies to confront and prevent the violations women are exposed to, especially in alternative communication channels. Moreover, even with social distancing, digital media can help maintain a network of contact with people who, in a situation of violence, can be triggered to receive help.

Initiatives of organizations and a sense of cooperation

With the accentuated risks due to social isolation, private initiative, in partnerships with social organizations and projects, also articulated itself to offer support to women exposed to violence, mainly through its digital platforms. In Brazil, large stores and multinationals developed virtual tools so that women who were victims of violence could ask for help during periods of social isolation. Among the proposals are the insertion of report buttons within mobile phone apps, as well as the offer of free travel for transportation apps. The idea was that women could request help immediately, be redirected to the reporting agencies (Araujo, 2020ARAUJO, L. Lu avisa sobre botão no app para denunciar violência e post viraliza. PropMark, Digital, 2020. Disponível em: https://propmark.com.br/digital/lu-avisa-sobre-botao-no-app-para-denunciar-violencia-e-post-viraliza/. Acesso em: 10 jul. 2020.
https://propmark.com.br/digital/lu-avisa... ) and even leave the presence of the aggressor safely (Souza, 2020).

As indicated, most actions have been done through digital applications and platforms. This type of support has received approval from women in situations of violence, who consider online tools to be a useful source of encouragement and support, as they feel safer deciding to report (Hegarty ., 2019HEGARTY, K. et al. An online healthy relationship tool and safety decision aid for women experiencing intimate partner violence (I-DECIDE): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Public Health, v. 4, n. 6, p. e301-e310, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30079-9. Acesso em: 15 jul. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30... ). In addition, virtual help request buttons are inserted within store shopping applications, for example, which makes them easier to access and reduces the risk of alarming the attacker.

For Silva, Prado, and Signorelli (2019SILVA, V. L. C. da; PRADO, S. M.; SIGNORELLI, M. C. Plataforma on-line para apoio à tomada de decisão e planejamento de segurança para mulheres vivendo com violência doméstica no Brasil: bases teórico-metodológicas e resultados preliminares. Guaju, v. 5, n. 2, p. 99-113, 2019. Disponível em: https://revistas.ufpr.br/guaju/article/view/70501/40127. Acesso em: 30 ago. 2020.
https://revistas.ufpr.br/guaju/article/v... ) these online platforms, developed by private initiative, have the potential of agility, security, and confidentiality so that women do not feel exposed, as well as being an initial step towards reporting and an effective way to redirect cases to formal organs and women’s services. However, it is necessary to consider its limitations, since even when inserted into the applications discreetly there is a risk that the aggressor notices or even that the referral to the authorities is not done correctly. Moreover, in the Brazilian scenario, not all women have cell phones or the internet to access the applications in stores and get support (Silva et al., 2019).

In addition to online support, private institutions have also provided financial and material support for victims. These were donations, such as food baskets and hygiene products, for women in situations of violence and high social vulnerability during the pandemic. Such initiatives are significant and should be recognized for their social value. However, it is important to emphasize that the fight against violence against women and feminicide should not be the responsibility of private initiatives, which can at any time withdraw investments in social areas. The protection of people in vulnerable situations, including women victims of violence, should be a function of the state, which should provide for continuous investment and programs to deal with these issues.

It is important to reinforce that despite proactive actions to strengthen complaints and the development of new channels of assistance for women victims of violence, strategies must also target other fronts. The educational processes and guidance for the general population are also a strategy for the aggressors themselves to find ways to become aware and re-educate their violent behaviors. Previous research has indicated that several factors can influence an individual to commit violent acts, such as feminicide, including having a low educational level; unemployment; a diagnosis of mental illness; exhibiting controlling behaviors; having access to firearms; abusive consumption of psychoactive substances; among others (Spencer; Stith, 2020SPENCER, C. M.; STITH, S. M. Risk factors for male perpetration and female victimization of intimate partner homicide: a meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, California, v. 21, n. 3, p. 527-540, 2020. DOI: 10.1177/1524838018781101. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2024.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018781101... ).

The study by Caicedo-Roa and Cordeiro (2024) reinforces that most perpetrators of feminicide are known to the victims, being spouses and/or partners. According to the research, the perpetrators of violence, because they are known, seek to maintain a positive image in the community, causing social discredit to the victims in cases of complaints. Furthermore, most cases of feminicide involve violent means with the imposition of suffering in death, which constitutes a demonstration of gender hatred, which is often propagated in patriarchal education (Caicedo-Roa; Cordeiro, 2024). Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies targeted at men and possible perpetrators, as a direct way of protecting women, as well as holding these men responsible for violent behavior and crimes committed.

Final considerations

Historically, consolidated social rights in Brazil resulted from well-structured articulations and claims movements of the whole society. This is the case of the 1988 Federal Constitution and the promulgation of Law n. 11.340 (2006), which ensured the right to protection of women exposed to violence. Despite the above, this article presented how former president Bolsonaro’s sexist speeches and policies, combined with social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, could be a setback in the rights achieved for the protection of women and an increase in rates of violence against this segment, which became more vulnerable, for example, to feminicide.

However, some initiatives have been presented in the national context aimed at these demands. The reorganization of services provided to victims, the circulation of digital information materials and relevant content for reporting and requesting help, as well as investments by some sectors of the private sector are examples of successful actions in the face of the threat posed by social isolation and innocuous speeches by former president Bolsonaro. Undoubtedly, what should be highlighted as the most relevant issue is the capacity of articulation of civil society to fight violence against women.

Based on the data presented and the proposed reflections, it is observed that violence against women and cases of femicide are a complex and challenging panorama, permeated by alarming data and brutal realities. This reality is even more accentuated when the State itself presents speeches and policies that do not adequately consider the violation of fundamental human rights and its impact on a society marked by gender inequalities and unequal power relations.

The shared experiences of women victims, organizations, and civil society indicate, especially, the need to think about long-term actions, aimed at strengthening women emotionally and economically, as well as means of developing autonomy so that they can protect themselves more quickly from the aggressors. Although it was not directly addressed in the article, a large part of domestic violence, as happens at home, ends up being witnessed by the victims’ children. Therefore, cases of violence against women also victimize, mainly, children and adolescents who live in the same space, demonstrating the need to think about protective strategies for this group as well.

It is recommended that, later, all initiatives be systematically analyzed by researchers working on this topic. An in-depth analysis of these experiences can provide important lessons on how to intervene in cases where victims remain for long periods in the presence of the aggressor, as well can provide important lessons on the power of a society and of groups that emphatically oppose the backward discourses of a political leader regarding women’s fundamental rights.

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