Female Police Force Quells Domestic Violence : Wife-Beaters in Brazil Meet Their Match

Brazilian men are beginning to learn that their traditional “macho” style of male dominance is not a license to settle domestic disputes with their fists.

Latin America’s first all-female police force, set up to combat violence against women, has been operating with success in Sao Paulo for the last eight months and its example has been followed in 11 other Brazilian cities.

Under the command of Rosmary Correa, a 36-year-old police commissioner, the squad has declared war on the sort of domestic violence that in the past was frequently dismissed as a family affair.

‘Not the Police’s Fault’

“It was not entirely the police’s fault,” Correa said. “Often women would arrive at the local police station when the duty officer was involved in other, perhaps more important, things like robberies and murders.”

But there were also undoubtedly cases in which the woman was sent away with a “Go home, heat up the supper and make your man happy,” she said.

“Now there is somewhere for violence victims to go, where they will get a sympathetic hearing and justice,” she said.

200 Cases

Correa and the 34 women officers under her deal every day with about 200 cases of violence, ranging from aggression to attempted murder and rape, in this city of more than 10 million people. After a recent television documentary on the squad’s activities, the number briefly soared to more than 400.

“The average local police station deals with only 20 cases of all types on every 12-hour shift; we handle 10 violence complaints every hour,” Correa said.

Under Brazilian law, those convicted of common assault can be sentenced to up to one year in jail, and up to two years in cases of extreme violence.

Sentences Handed Out

So far, 500 cases are pending before local magistrates and a number of prison sentences have already been handed out.

“Most of the cases would never have even reached court before the women’s division was set up,” Correa said.

She said violence against women exists everywhere, not just in Brazil, and its causes are usually much the same--alcohol, economic and housing problems or even drugs.

But in Brazil, and probably in other Latin American countries, the problem was aggravated by the “macho” concept that the man could do what he liked with his women.

Violence Not Increasing

“We are here to say he can’t,” Correa added.

The violence is not increasing, Correa said, explaining that the high number of cases merely reflects the fact that women now feel more comfortable about lodging a complaint.

“The women’s police is the best thing that could have happened,” said one young mother as she nursed a right eye still blackened and cut from a punch by her husband three days earlier.

“It is difficult to speak to a man about such things. Maybe he’d just beaten his wife the night before,” she said.

Suffered Blows

In most cases, the victim has been beaten on the head or body.

But Correa said she saw one women who was severely burned when her husband branded her with a clothes iron. Another woman was fighting for her life in the hospital after being set afire with gasoline.

The center has handled about 70 cases of rape, mainly involving attacks by fathers on their own children. Correa said she expects the number of reported sexual attacks to rise as confidence in the new force increases and victims become more prepared to speak.

‘Not Just Here to Punish’

“But we are not just here to punish; we want to change people’s attitudes,” Correa said.

One of her most successful cases involved a young man, prosecuted after he attacked his pregnant wife, she said. The man called her recently to invite her to be the child’s godmother.

“That was very pleasing,” she said.