Protests against gender-based violence sweep Brazil on March 8
Women across Brazil took to the streets in protests on International Women’s Day, Sunday (Mar. 8). Demonstrators rallied across several cities and in the capitals of all 27 Brazilian states.
The recurring cases of femicide in Brazil were the highlight of the demonstration in the federal capital, Brasília. With posters reading “Stop killing us,” hundreds of people denounced gender-based violence.
Femicide was also at the center of demonstrations in Belo Horizonte, state capital of Minas Gerais, where 160 crosses were placed in Praça da Liberdade, in the city center, representing women who were victims of this crime in the state in 2025 and 2026. The last victim was stabbed to death in the city of Santa Luzia, on International Women’s Day itself.
“Each cross symbolizes an interrupted story, a family marked by violence, and a collective failure to protect these lives. The proposal is that March 8 should also be a day of denunciation and mobilization – a reminder that there is nothing to celebrate while women continue to be murdered simply because they are women,” declared the Casa das Marias collective, which organized the installation.
A demonstration in Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, in the South, featured an artistic performance. Members of a theater group marched holding women’s shoes stained with a blood-like fluid. The shoes represented the victims of femicide in the state, and group members shouted their names as they walked.
In the state of Bahia, the protest in the capital Salvador had the slogan “Women alive, fearless, and fighting – for democracy with sovereignty, good living, and an end to femicide and to the 6 to 1 work regime [six days of work followed by one day of rest].” The country is mobilizing for an additional day of rest (5 to 2).
Protesters also took to the streets in the state capital of Pará, Belém, the city that hosted the UN conference on climate change, COP30, in November 2025.
“Historically, March 8 is a day of struggle and reflection, as we take to the streets to demand public policies. We want gender equality, we want to combat violence against women, femicide, vicarious violence, and so many other forms of violence that affect us women,” said Vanessa Albuquerque, head of the Amazon Women’s Network.
President Lula
In a nationwide radio and television broadcast in honor of International Women’s Day on Saturday (Mar. 7), Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva highlighted the urgency of combating femicide, a crime that reached a record-breaking average of four women murdered per day in 2025.
“Every six hours, a man kills a woman in Brazil. Each femicide is the result of silent, naturalized violence perpetrated on a daily basis. The overwhelming majority of these attacks take place at home – in an environment that should be protective,” he declared.
“Even with the increase in penalties for femicide – up to 40 years in prison for murderers – men continue to assault and kill women. We cannot accept this,” he added.
The president mentioned anti-femicide initiatives recently unveiled by the government. He also voiced support for ending the 6 to 1 work regime, currently under debate in Congress, which particularly harms women, who often work double shifts.
