‘Femicide does not start on the day of the crime’: A Brazilian researcher’s view on gender violence in her country
Source: Global Voices
Over the weekend of November 6 and 7, 2025, thousands of Brazilians took to the streets to call attention to the rampant number of cases of violence against women. Since then, a new cycle of brutal stories occupied the news. Among them was a woman who jumped from a moving car after being kidnapped and stabbed by her ex-partner. Another woman was killed, and her body was discovered in a trash can, with her hands and feet bound. The body of an 18-year-old trans woman was brought to a police station by a ride-share driver who admitted to having killed her; he was freed right after. In another case, a 25-year-old woman died after being beaten and falling from the 10th floor of a building — her partner was arrested as the main suspect.
The number of cases of gender violence has been worrisome for some time in the country, even with laws increasing penalties for aggressors. But what are the reasons for the apparent surge in reported cases? To understand this context, Global Voices interviewed Isabella Matosinhos, a researcher for the Brazilian Forum for Public Security (Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública).
Over the weekend of November 6 and 7, 2025, thousands of Brazilians took to the streets to call attention to the rampant number of cases of violence against women. Since then, a new cycle of brutal stories occupied the news. Among them was a woman who jumped from a moving car after being kidnapped and stabbed by her ex-partner. Another woman was killed, and her body was discovered in a trash can, with her hands and feet bound. The body of an 18-year-old trans woman was brought to a police station by a ride-share driver who admitted to having killed her; he was freed right after. In another case, a 25-year-old woman died after being beaten and falling from the 10th floor of a building — her partner was arrested as the main suspect.
The number of cases of gender violence has been worrisome for some time in the country, even with laws increasing penalties for aggressors. But what are the reasons for the apparent surge in reported cases? To understand this context, Global Voices interviewed Isabella Matosinhos, a researcher for the Brazilian Forum for Public Security (Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública).