Transforming State Responses to Feminicide

Women’s Movements, Law and Criminal Justice Institutions in Brazil

Fiona Macaulay

Emerald

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9781800715660

21 April 2021

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9781800715653

21 April 2021

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9781800715677

21 April 2021

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State responses to feminicide in Latin America, characterised in many cases by indifference and incompetence, have caused global concern. This book provides a new and refreshingly positive story from the region by tracing the transformation of state responses to feminicide in Brazil. It is the first single country study to examine in detail how strategic action by the women's movement has resulted in significant improvements in the investigation, prosecution and prevention of domestic violence and feminicide.

Fiona Macaulay showcases the main contributory factors to the development of criminal justice best-practices around feminicide. She demonstrates the combined impact of regional efforts, local women's movement mobilisation, changes in the law and its application, and the action of policy entrepreneurs within the criminal justice institutions.

Drawing on her knowledge of pioneering coalitions of interest involving feminist academics, NGOs, local campaigners, bureaucrats, politicians, police and prosecutors, the author unveils how these actors were able to identify, create and use institutional spaces to ensure long-lasting positive change. This book is a must-read for activists and researchers interested in practical strategies for improving criminal justice responses to gender-based violence, gender-aware police reform, comparative and feminist criminology, and the social and institutional dynamics of violence in Latin America.

Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Legislating Feminicide Chapter 3. Recording, Recognising and Investigating Feminicide Chapter 4. Prosecuting and Punishing Feminicide Chapter 5. Preventing Feminicide Chapter 6. Conclusion

Feminicide, the murder of women, has gained worldwide attention in recent years both for its prevalence and for efforts to curb it through legislation. Latin America was the site of pioneering efforts by feminist activists to transform both the meaning and practice of the law in matters of gender-based violence, and there are valuable lessons to be learned from that experience. Fiona Macaulay's book, focusing on Brazil, casts fascinating light on the political processes, domestic and international, that led to important policy, institutional and legal innovation in this area. Long in coming, success was largely due to the combined efforts of feminist activists, politicians, and lawyers. This book is a most welcome contribution to our thinking about how policy change occurs, why politics matters, and why a feminist perspective was transformative. Written in an accessible style, this is an essential case study for anyone interested in politics and law, feminist movements, and what can be achieved in contentious areas of reform.
- Professor Maxine Molyneux, Institute of the Americas, University College London

Fiona Macaulay is Senior Lecturer in the Division of Peace Studies and International Development at the University of Bradford. Her research interests, on which she has published extensively, focus on criminal justice system reform, human rights policy, and gender, politics and security issues in Latin America, especially Brazil.