COVID-19 AND THE INCREASE OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN BRASIL: OVERCOMING MACHINE CULTURE

Abstract

This paper discusses the violence against women during the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, with updated numbers provided by the report “Visível e invisível: a vitimização de mulheres no Brasil”, prepared by Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, in 2019, and statistics provided by Secretaria de Segurança Pública do Estado de São Paulo, about violence against women. The article relates the increase of cases with the construction and inequality of gender. The problem of the article is expressed through the question: what is the role of the State in the construction of public policies that may result in the reduction of violence against women in times of pandemic, and also the fight against male chauvinism? The main objective is to analyze public policies that seek to reduce violence against women and, more specifically, seeks to suggest ways to face the problem in the pandemic. The method consists of bibliographic and documentary research. The uniqueness of the research is to demonstrate the importance of the public authorities in combating violence against women in the pandemic, but also in problematizing ways to solve the problem in the individual sphere, from the consciousness of each one to overcoming the male chauvinism. As a result, the article presents three additional solutions to the Maria da Penha Law, recognizing the importance of public policies and the power of the State in confronting issues related to fundamental rights. In order to face the sexist social culture, it is also necessary to count on the male's ability to think about overcoming the stupidity that explains cases of violence against women.