The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) made, for the first time, a politician ineligible for gender-based political violence. Unanimously, the ministers condemned the councilor of Nova Friburgo (RJ) José Sebastião Rabello, known as Zezinho do Caminhão, for attacks on councilor Priscila Teixeira Pitta Muniz on the premises of the City Council. ?Political violence against women became considered a crime in Brazil with Law No. 14,192, of 2021. The legislation establishes mechanisms to prevent, repress and combat political violence against women during elections and in the exercise of political rights and public functions. The decision was taken this Thursday (13), during the analysis of an appeal presented by the Public Electoral Ministry (MPE) against the decision of the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ), which had ruled out the crime. The TRE-RJ had understood that, although the councilor's statements were objectionable from an ethical point of view, there was not sufficient evidence that he had acted with the aim of preventing or hindering the councilor's exercise of her mandate because she was a woman. TSE ministers disagreed. Unanimously, they understood that gender-based political violence was configured and that the conduct analyzed was part of an attempt to silence the parliamentarian. The case's rapporteur, Minister Dias Toffoli, criticized the TRE-RJ decision and stated that there was sufficient evidence to characterize political violence against women.
TSE makes councilor ineligible for gender-based political violence for the first time
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) made, for the first time, a politician ineligible for gender-based political violence. Unanimously, the ministers condemned the councilor of Nova Friburgo (RJ) José Sebastião Rabello, known as Zezinho do...
?Political violence against women became considered a crime in Brazil with Law No. The legislation establishes mechanisms to prevent, repress and combat political violence against women during elections and in the exercise of political rights and public functions.
- The decision was taken this Thursday (13), during the analysis of an appeal presented by the Public Electoral Ministry (MPE) against the decision of the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de...
- The TRE-RJ had understood that, although the councilor's statements were objectionable from an ethical point of view, there was not sufficient evidence that he had acted with the aim of...
Editorial reading aid based only on information contained in this story and its identified source.
During the trial, Toffoli quoted one of the lines attributed to the councilman: "You're going to have to hit the woman. Hold her arms." According to the minister, the statement could not be treated merely as a rhetorical statement. "The threat of isolation goes beyond rhetoric," said Toffoli. For the minister, the intimidation speech was directed at a councilor in a vulnerable situation as she was the only woman in that political environment. According to Toffoli, the demonstrations analyzed in the process functioned as a mechanism to control and silence the parliamentarian. The minister stated that the political debate can take on harsh contours, but that derogatory and disqualifying expressions, when associated with silencing mechanisms, can characterize political violence against women. By recognizing the practice of gender-based political violence, the TSE also removed the protection of parliamentary immunity for the conduct analyzed in the process and applied ineligibility to the councilor.