Top court head says Brazil is facing “epidemic of domestic violence”
Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, head of Brazil’s Supreme Court, said at a session opening that the country is experiencing “an epidemic of domestic violence.”
He spoke in honor of International Women’s Day, celebrated last Saturday (Mar. 8) and cited figures on violence against women in Brazil.
“We still have an epidemic of domestic violence and sexual violence against women and we need to tackle it,” he argued.
He also criticized the “structural misogyny” in Brazilian society, which “imposes two major difficulties on women—a sexual division of labor and a glass ceiling.” The justice noted that women in Brazil work nearly three hours more than men everyday, because they are responsible for caring for the family, children, and the elderly—which is usually unpaid. “The glass ceiling manifests itself in the invisible restrictions imposed on women,” he added.
Femicide
Brazil’s National Council of Justice, also chaired by Justice Barroso, reported that the number of femicides tried in four years surged 225 percent.
