By NETWORK DOESN'T SHUT UP*
We repudiate Bill 1904/2024 for violating fundamental rights, taking immense steps backwards on the agenda of respect for the dignity of all people who are victims of sexual violence
Rede Não Cala – Professors and Researchers for the End of Sexual and Gender Violence at the University of São Paulo – expresses its rejection and indignation at Bill 1904/2024, which proposes a change in criminal legislation on abortion.
Currently and since 1940, the Brazilian Penal Code does not criminalize abortion in three situations: (i) after rape, (ii) when there is a risk to the life of the pregnant person or (iii) in the case of a diagnosis of fetal anencephaly. The Penal Code does not stipulate any gestational age limit.
The proposed Bill not only prohibits legal abortions after 22 weeks in cases of rape, but also equates abortion to the crime of homicide after this period. We remember that in Brazil, seven girls under 13 years of age are raped every hour, according to the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook.
Therefore, the main people affected by the proposal will be girls who seek this service at this stage of pregnancy, since in cases of sexual abuse, it takes longer to discover or even identify the pregnancy, especially in girls with limited access to health system, information and the fact that the abuser is someone from their own family. The consequence is late diagnosis of pregnancy.
In addition to interrupting the childhood of a large number of Brazilian girls, especially from vulnerable populations, the proposal of this Bill also claims that victims of rape, who are pregnant with more than 22 weeks and do not wish to progress with the pregnancy - as well as professionals who carry out the procedure – are convicted of the crime of homicide, and may be imprisoned for up to 20 years. The real criminal, the rapist, serves a sentence of up to 10 years.
We understand, as proven by data, that Bill 1904/2024 is:
(a) Unconstitutional; (b) extremely violent on the lives of women, girls and people who become pregnant after sexual violence – especially the poorest, blackest and most vulnerable; (c) represents an immense setback in relation to the rights of girls and women victims of rape; (d) presents yet another explicit way of blaming women for crimes that men commit.
We ask ourselves until when, and we repudiate the Bill for violating fundamental rights, taking immense steps backwards in respect for the dignity of all people who are victims of sexual violence.
Joining the majority of the Brazilian population, we reject the proposal and, recognizing the violence contained in it, we call on representatives of the legislative branch to ensure the only acceptable fate of this Bill: File it!
Network Does Not Shut Up is made up of professors and researchers working to end sexual and gender-based violence at the University of São Paulo.
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