A interpretação da lei maria da penha pelo superior tribunal de justiça: Os primeiros passos de uma jurisprudência sobre violência doméstica

The first steps of a jurisprudence on domestic violence

Abstract

This article aims to present the results of a research on the Superior Court of Justice’s judgments, referring to domestic violence cases, carried out during the first years of Maria da Penha Law’s validity. Using a detailed methodology, the survey highlights eleven specific issues that, as it was found, were constantly repeated in such judgments over the aforementioned years, and discusses how the category of gender is or is not determinant in these debates. The data indicates both changes in understanding and solidification of the Court's positions in judgments on domestic violence in the time frame used, whose effects impact the way the Maria da Penha Law is interpreted and applied by the Courts in Brazil. It is intended that, at the end of this article, the reader understands that the construction of a solid jurisprudence, consistent with the objectives pursued with the promulgation of the aforementioned law, does not result from a simple automatic application of this law but, on the contrary, is the result of an intense interpretative dispute not only about legal provisions, but also about gender roles in society.