The (dis)construction of female empowerment with regard to violence against women in marriage

Abstract

The expression “female empowerment” has been widely used to enhance the role of women and to exalt the female gender, drawing attention to the respect that women deserve with regard to their personal and professional achievements. However, this power comes into question when there are violence manifestations against women in marriage, which is the object of this study. The use of force by man can be considered a type of power, albeit a negative one, completely distorting the search for this empowerment. Therefore, Law has been increasingly necessary, in its forms of intervention, so that women have their dignity protected and their existence preserved, seeking to repress violence practiced against them, through the provision of feminicide and the protection rules in the Maria da Penha Law. The perpetration of this type of violence is not a recent event and, unfortunately, there are still men who feel they are the owners of women and, therefore, “authorized” to violent conduct, despite the predictions of criminal sanctions against these agents.