Maria da Penha v. Brazil in the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights: An Analysis of the Impacts of the Convention of Belém do Pará in the Federal Legislation

Young Scholar: Alexia Duarte Torres

Alexia Duarte Torres is law graduate of Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in law from Federal University of Minas Gerais. In addition to being an Edmund Burke Fellow with the Center for Family and Human Rights, Mr. Torres was a 2015 Blackstone Legal Fellow with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Description

Between 2002 and 2004, feminist NGOs gathered to draft a law to combat domestic violence against women in Brazil. Known as the Maria da Penha law and passed in August 2006, it contained Trojan horses to further the feminist agenda. In this case study, Alexia Duarte Torres reveals the impact this law had within the federal legislation and its additional effects of the redefinition of family and inclusion of gender ideology. Torres provides policy implications and recommended measures policy makers can take to prevent additional advances from the left.