TEN YEARS OF THE FEMINICIDE LAW: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATIVE EFFECTIVENESS AND RACIAL INVISIBILITY IN GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Resumo

Law 13,104/2015, which classified femicide as a heinous crime, completed 10 years in 2025, marking progress in combating gender-based violence in Brazil. In 2024, Law 14,994 updated the Brazilian Penal Code and increased the penalty for femicide to up to 40 years in prison, reinforcing the seriousness of the crime. However, the Atlas of Violence (IPEA, 2024) reveals that between 2012 and 2022, femicide rates remained stable, with 1.2 homicides per 100,000 women in the domestic environment. These data, together with the literature review, indicate that isolated punitive measures do not address the structural causes of violence, such as machismo, patriarchy, and structural racism. The persistence of the problem highlights the need for an intersectional approach that combines preventive public policies with actions against gender and racial inequalities. Without strategies that address the cultural and social roots of violence, legislative reforms will continue to be insufficient to reduce femicide rates in the country.