Brazil unveils pact to tackle femicide
The Brazilian government, the National Congress, and the Judiciary on Wednesday (Feb. 4) launched an initiative dubbed the National Pact: Brazil Against Femicide.
The plan outlines coordinated and permanent action between the three branches of government with the aim of preventing violence against girls and women in Brazil.
The agreement recognizes that violence against women in the country is a structural crisis that cannot be addressed by isolated efforts.
A campaign guided by the slogan Todos Juntos por Todas (“Everyone together for the women”) was also launched, calling on society as a whole to take an active role in combating violence.
Objectives
Among the objectives of the pact are to accelerate the implementation of protective measures, strengthen networks to combat violence throughout Brazil, expand educational initiatives, and hold perpetrators accountable, thereby combating impunity.
The agreement also envisages commitments aimed at transforming the institutional culture of the three branches of government, promoting equal treatment between men and women, combating structural sexism, and incorporating responses to new challenges, such as digital violence against women.
The strategy also includes the website TodosPorTodas.br, which will gather information about the pact, publicize planned actions, present reporting channels and public policies for the protection of women, and encourage the engagement of public institutions, private companies, and society.
The platform will provide a downloadable guide with information on different types of violence, policies to combat it, and practical guidelines for responsible communication, in line with the commitment to save lives.
Committee
The pact also stipulates the creation of an Inter-institutional Management Committee, coordinated by the Brazilian president’s office. The committee should bring together representatives from the three branches of government, with permanent participation from prosecutors and public defenders, ensuring continuous monitoring, federal coordination, and transparency.
Numbers
Data from the judicial system show that, in 2025, the Brazilian courts tried an average of 42 cases of femicide per day, totaling 15,453 trials – a 17-percent increase over the previous year.
In the same period, 621,202 protective measures were granted, equivalent to 70 measures per hour, as per figures from the National Council of Justice.
Ligue 180, the women’s assistance hotline, recorded an average of 425 complaints per day in 2025.
Changes
Below are the main changes planned by the government with the new pact:
- Faster protective measures that really work – less time between reporting and effective protection for women. The idea is that judicial decisions, police, social services, and shelters will act in a coordinated manner, without buck-passing.
- Three branches of government looking at the same case – the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as oversight bodies, share information and monitor cases in an integrated manner, from the request for help all the way to the outcome, reducing failures that currently put women at risk.
- More prevention before violence turns into death – ongoing campaigns, rights education, training for public officials, and actions to change the culture of violence – including involving men as part of the solution.
- Faster accountability for perpetrators – swifter proceedings, less impunity, and firmer responses to those who violate protective measures or commit violence.
- Special attention to those most at risk – focus on black, indigenous, and quilombola women, women in the periphery and rural areas, women with disabilities, young and elderly women, and women living in remote or more vulnerable areas.
- Response to new forms of violence – tackling digital violence, such as harassment, threats, and online exposure, which often precede physical assaults.
- Public reporting of results – periodic reports, targets, and accountability.
