Hundreds of children in Mato Grosso are invisible victims of the murder of their mothers

The murder of young Emily Bispo da Cruz, 20 years old, in the Pedra 90 neighborhood, in Cuiabá, on Thursday morning (16), generated enormous social commotion. In addition to the brutality of the crime, the fact that the 15 stab wounds against the victim were given in front of a four-year-old child, Emily’s son, caused revolt. Another minor who joins the regrettable statistics of orphans of femicide.

According to the Report on the Violent Deaths of Women in 2022, prepared by the Civil Police, A Reportagem had access, children are indirect victims of homicides and feminicides and, last year alone, there were 134 orphans.

The report points out that 42 victims of femicide were mothers and left 92 sons and daughters orphans and, of these children, 15 were born from the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator of the crime. In addition, the crime of murder against women left 42 more children without their mothers.

The report also explains that feminicide is not an independent crime. It is a qualifier of intentional homicide, which in the purpose of Law 13.104/2015 aims to recognize the deaths of women resulting from sexist and misogynistic practices of the condition of sex. They are crimes motivated by hate, jealousy, anger, power struggle, humiliation and disrespect for the condition of women.

This is the case of the femicide committed against Emily, who was murdered for not accepting to resume her relationship with her ex-boyfriend. During testimony at the Police Station for Homicide and Personal Protection (DHPP), on Thursday night, Antonio Aluizio da Conceição Maciano confessed to having stabbed Emily to death motivated by jealousy and not having been reciprocated regarding the marriage proposal made to her. Antonio said that he intended to marry her and was bothered by her friends and former companions.

In recent years, Brazil has followed the agenda of discussions, theoretical productions and implementation of legislation on gender violence against women. Since 2006, when the Maria da Penha Law was sanctioned, progress in the application of measures to combat violence has been significant, however, the numbers show that the situation is still far from reaching the desired reality.

In Mato Grosso, in 2022 alone, 101 murders of females were recorded. In 2021, there were 85 and, in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, 104 women were murdered.

Last year, 14,893 women requested Emergency Protective Measures at police stations and 2,198 victims denounced non-compliance with measures granted to the detriment of their aggressors.

The PJC’s Report on Violent Deaths of Women points out that, regardless of the circumstance, means used and reason, women died more in the homes they shared with partners, friends and relatives.

However, it is in feminicides, due to the naturalized reality of gender inequality between men and women, that the home predominates over other locations. Of the deaths classified as femicides, 75% of the victims were murdered at home,
above all, with cold weapons (knives, machetes, pocketknife). As happened to Emily, killed at the door of her house, stabbed with a knife, while she was taking her son to school.

In an interview, the Homicide Commissioner, Hércules Batista, said that the suspect who killed Emily, who is from the state of Pará, had “suitcases ready” to leave Mato Grosso after committing the crime.

“Absurd, premeditated and calculating crime, even more so under these circumstances, in front of the victim’s 4-year-old son. During the investigations, we concluded that the murderer had already purchased tickets to the state of Pará, his hometown (sic), a few days ago, which all indicates that he would flee”, said the delegate.

Crimes of feminicide also call attention for their brutality, a way of disqualifying the victim. “For reasons of the female condition, in the context of domestic violence, a 34-year-old woman was killed by her husband, who confessed to having used a car wheel to hit her head and then simulated that the woman had abandoned him, sending messages family members communicating the separation. The victim had been missing for five months,” says an excerpt from the report.

Age is also not indicative of some kind of “respect for the victim”. In Mato Grosso, also in 2022, a 66-year-old woman was beaten to death after a banal argument with her partner. “The hatred evidenced in the intensity of the violence disfigured the victim’s face by the sinking of the skull, removing her identity. The victim was dragged 20 meters and thrown like a expendable object into a pit in the backyard of the property. The case brings together all the ingredients of misogyny, of contempt for the condition of the female sex”, highlights the report.

Bill 112/23, authored by federal deputy Sâmia Bomfim (Psol-SP) , establishes guidelines for the creation of a program aimed at supporting children and adolescents who lost their mothers as a result of femicide.

The proposal determines, for example, which program ensures the distance between the orphaned child or adolescent and the author, co-author or participant in the crime of femicide. It also provides that the child or adolescent has priority assistance in public services, including adoption, and in programs to combat school dropout and food insecurity.

“Indirect and invisible victims of femicide are children and adolescents whose core care is interrupted by the cruel death of one of the reference figures for their growth and creation”, says the author, deputy Sâmia Bomfim (Psol-SP).

Among other guidelines, the text stipulates that the program should operate from the integration of orphaned children and adolescents shelter bodies with the Unified Health System (SUS) and its specialized services in psychological treatment, including social assistance.

Finally, the proposal authorizes the creation of a special benefit for the subsistence of orphaned children and adolescents due to femicide. According to the text, the benefit ends when civil majority is reached or when childhood and adolescence are mischaracterized under the terms of the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA).

24 HOURS ON SHIFT

A new service front for victims of domestic violence started operating in the capital of Mato Grosso. The 24-hour on-call, coordinated by police chief Jannira Laranjeira, is specific to cases of crimes against domestic and family violence, and operates within the 2nd Police Station of Carumbé, where the metropolitan on-call was for many years.

The building was renovated to provide 24-hour care, seven days a week, for all occurrences of crimes involving women, children and elderly victims.

“For us police authorities, having tools capable of giving the victim a feeling of security in the most vulnerable moment is very satisfying. There are things that can wait, but in cases of violence, women are at imminent risk. It is no wonder that we take steps at dawn, we have to guarantee the physical integrity of this woman and the use of technology is helping us”, says Jannira Laranjeira.

PANIC BUTTON

Delegates of the Civil Judicial Police (PJC) of the municipalities of Cuiabá, Várzea Grande, Cáceres and Rondonópolis can already grant the application “SOS Mulher MT – Virtual Panic Button” to victims of domestic violence as soon as the complaint is registered. In this way, the woman leaves the police station with the system ready to be activated if the aggressor approaches her again.

The measure is valid for five days, until the judge of the Specialized Court of Domestic and Family Violence against Women judges the request for a Protective Measure.

ONLINE PROTECTIVE MEASURE

In 2021, the PJC launched the “Online Protective Measure” website, which allows women victims of violence to request court protection orders without the need to go to a police station. SOS Mulher MT allows access to the Panic Button, which is a distress call in virtual format, when the aggressor fails to comply with any of the rules stipulated by the magistrate. Access here.

CONTACTS

Assistance for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence
Av. Dante Martins de Oliveira s/n Planalto neighborhood – Cuiabá / MT
Phones: (65) 3901-4254 / 3901-4226 (investigators’ room) / 3901-4229 (central registry office) / 3901-4252/ 3901-4263 (social worker)

Specialized Police Station for the Defense of Women in Cuiabá – DEDM
Avenida Carmindo de Campos, nº 2109, corner with Rua Bahia, Jardim Paulista neighborhood.
Phone: Reception 3901-4277 / Central Registry 3901-5344
Email: [email protected]