Danielle Jinkings       Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasília – A panel of judges (“Terceira Seção”) at Brazil’s Superior Appellate Court (“Superior Tribunal de Justiça – STJ”) recently ruled that a man was not guilty of rape after he had sex with three girls, all aged 12, because they were already prostitutes.

The head of the Secretariat of Women’s Affairs (“Enfrentamento à Violência contra as Mulheres”), Aparecida Gonçalves, was shocked. “This not only banalizes rape, it authorizes it. The Judiciary is authorizing rapists to do this. That is very grave,” she declared.

The minister of Human Rights, Maria do Rosário, was up in arms. She said she would put the nation’s chief prosecutor and the head of the office of government attorneys (“procurador-geral da República,” Roberto Gurgel, and the “advogado-geral da União,” Luís Inácio Adams, respectively) to work on the case immediately.

According to Maria do Rosário, the decision used relativity as a point of departure, based on the argument that childen of 12 who already had sexual lives did not have their rights violated. “The sentence shows that the victims were judged not the person who was charged with the crime,” she declared, adding, “The penal code makes it clear that there is presumed violence when a child of less than 14 is involved. This decision by the STJ opens a path to impunity. We are very upset (“revoltados”) about this, but conscious of our duty. We shall analyze the situation with the heads of our government prosecutors and the office of attorneys, Gurgel and Adams, and decide on a position and what action we will take,” declared the minister.

Meanwhile, the minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, pointed out that court rulings have to be respected, even when you disagree with them. “As a student of the law, I am against this [ruling], but it is a decision by the STJ. I don’t know if it will be maintained. We have to wait for a final decision.”

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Para secretária, decisão do STJ pode banalizar violência sexual contra crianças e adolescentes

Link - Presidente do STJ diz que decisão sobre estupro de vulnerável pode ser revista

Link - Ministro da Justiça diz que é contra decisão do STJ sobre estupro

Link - Para Maria do Rosário, decisão do STJ sobre estupro de vulneráveis “significa constituir um caminho de impunidade”

Link - Para ANPR, decisão do STJ sobre estupro de menores é uma afronta à Constituição