Brazil's Lower House Passes Bill Defining 'Vicariant' Violence and Creating Heinous Homicide Crime

Overview

• The Chamber of Deputies approved PL 3880/2024, adding vicariant violence to the Lei Maria da Penha as abuse against a woman's children, dependents or support network intended to cause her suffering, which enables protective measures even when she is not directly attacked.
• The bill creates the specific offense of vicariant homicide with prison terms of 20 to 40 years and places it within the framework of domestic and family violence against women.
• Vicariant homicide is classified as a heinous crime, which bars amnesty, grace, pardon or bail and requires longer time in a closed regime before sentence progression.
• Sentences rise by one-third to one-half when the woman witnesses the crime, when the victim is a child, adolescent, elderly person or person with a disability, or when a protective order is being violated.
• Authored by Deputies Laura Carneiro, Maria do Rosário and Fernanda Melchionna and reported by Silvye Alves, the proposal advanced after partisan debate over its gendered scope, with PL, Novo and allies voicing opposition.