Violence against women

Violence against women is a major feature of the high levels of armed violence and militarised repression in Brazil's favelas. Brazil's women's movements are fighting back against this, including against the small arms company Taurus that fuels so much of this violence.

Last updated 29 October 2025


Violence against women committed by police and army agents in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas and peripheries are widespread but receive little attention. Adolescent and young women, who are racialized and objectified by the agents, are compelled to enter official police or army vehicles (viaturas). Inside these vehicles, victims suffer sexual violence while the car circulates within the favela.

Specific violations occurred during the 2014-2015 occupation of the Maré favela by the Brazilian Army under the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO). During this time, residents, including young racialized female communicators, faced practices known as filing, which involved aggressive stops, searches, and attempts at intimidation by soldiers. Female residents reported being stopped and searched and made to walk with rifles pointed at their faces. Moreover, reports collected in subsequent years, specifically during the 2018 Federal Intervention, confirmed cases of rape perpetrated by soldiers. The source stresses that the symmetry between the sexual violence suffered by women and the summary execution of men is frequently made invisible due to misogynistic framings present in the field of public security.

Reference: Gizele Martins e Juliana Farias, “Circuitos urbanos do terror de Estado: Uma abordagem antirracista e interseccional da militarização”, Ponto Urbe, 32, 2024, Available at: http://journals.openedition.org/pontourbe/16193

The murder of Marielle Franco

Activist holding up image of a person wearing red lipstick and sunflowers on a yellow background

Marielle Franco remembered during protests at the London arms fair, DSEI, in 2019

Marielle Franco was a highly popular Rio de Janeiro community activist, and politician from the Radical Left Party of Socialism and Liberty (PSOL). A black, bisexual, single mother, she campaigned against police violence, poverty, and racism, and for LGBT rights and social and economic justice.

She was a prominent thorn in the side of the police, militia, and right-wing politicians. On March 14 2018, she was murdered, shot dead along with her driver. The murder was widely suspected of being the work of armed militia.

As of 2025, the investigation into the 2018 assassination of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes has seen significant developments. In late 2024, former police officers Ronnie Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz were convicted and sentenced to 78 and 59 years in prison, respectively, with Lessa cooperating as part of a plea deal to reveal the crime’s masterminds. Earlier in 2024, three prominent figures—federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão, state auditor Domingos Brazão, and former police chief Rivaldo Barbosa—were arrested and later formally indicted for allegedly orchestrating the killings to target political opponents. Additionally, Edilson Barbosa dos Santos, a scrapyard owner, was convicted for obstructing justice by dismantling the vehicle used in the shooting.

Women from the Landless Movement against Taurus

On March 8, 2024, International Women’s Day, women from Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) organized a protest in front of the Sao Paolo showroom of Brazil's largest arms company, Taurus

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Taurus fuelling violence against women

Taurus is one of Brazil’s biggest arms companies, and one of the largest suppliers of small arms in the world. It’s weapons play a major role in fuelling violence across the country, including gender-based violence.

On March 8, 2024, International Women’s Day, women from Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) organized a protest in front of Taurus’ showroom in São Paulo. Rather than a symbolic celebration, the action was a militant denunciation of the firearms manufacturer, which the MST identifies as complicit in both domestic and global systems of violence. During the protest, women dressed in black with their faces covered, some carrying red MST flags and banners, shouting: “every 7 minutes a woman is murdered in Brazil” and “Free Palestine Now.” During the protest, participants splattered red paint on the company’s façade, symbolizing bloodshed caused by firearms.

In their statements, the MST women framed Taurus as more than a firearms producer: they labeled it a “murderous company” and “sponsor of genocide” both in Brazil and abroad. According to them, Taurus profits from the systematic violence that afflicts rural and marginalized populations, particularly women, Indigenous peoples, and workers. They denounced the company’s ties to agribusiness elites, pro-gun caucuses in Congress, and political figures aligned with Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. The women argued that Taurus not only produces weapons that directly take lives but also supports policies and politicians that attack democratic institutions, Indigenous rights, and environmental protections.

The MST women connected the increase in femicide to the broader militarization of Brazilian society. They highlighted that firearms are used in 51% of murders of women in Brazil, with Black women disproportionately affected (70% of victims). In their view, Taurus is therefore complicit in perpetuating gendered and racialized violence. The protest also broadened its scope by invoking solidarity with Indigenous activists, such as Nega Pataxó, and with Palestinian women killed in Gaza. This rhetorical linking of struggles emphasized that local and global violences share the same profit-driven logic of the arms industry.

The action ended with a collective chant: “For our bodies and territories, ni una a menos” – “not one less”, which is the Latin-American feminist movement slogan against gendered violence.

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