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Brazil's Chamber Approves 'Bárbara Penna' Bill Toughening Penalties for Domestic Abusers

The measure awaits President Lula's sanction to take effect.

Overview

  • The Chamber of Deputies, which approved the bill on Wednesday, sent the text to the president for sanction.
  • The bill lets authorities place offenders who threaten or attack victims under the Differentiated Disciplinary Regime for up to two years, with single-cell confinement, limited visits and sun time, and monitored communications.
  • It amends the torture law to classify repeated physical or mental abuse of a woman in a domestic setting as torture punishable by two to eight years in prison.
  • It treats approaching a victim or family during active protective orders as a serious breach of sentence rules, enabling immediate regime regression, loss of up to one‑third of remitted days, and a reset of the progression clock without a new trial.
  • The proposal, authored by Senator Soraya Thronicke and inspired by the 2013 Bárbara Penna case, also allows transferring a convicted aggressor to another state to improve the woman's safety.