The clash between critical criminology and feminism over the penal rigor of the Maria da Penha Law

Abstract

This article seeks to analyze the divergences between critical criminology and the feminist movement, more precisely within feminist criminology, with regard to the use of criminal law in favor of women within the scope of Law nº 11,340/2006 (Maria da Penha Law), which toughened the criminal treatment given to aggressors after the decriminalization institutes of Law No. 9,099/95 removed cases of domestic and family violence against women. For this purpose, the dialectical approach method was used, with structured reasoning based on the opposition of ideas. Thus, it was found that criminological-critical currents criticize the penal rigor brought by the law, mainly considering that the majority of crimes committed have less offensive potential, due to their observations regarding the selectivity inherent to the penal system and the search for ways to overcome incarceration. Furthermore, feminist criminology highlighted the fact that various criminological theories ignored women, or, when they did not, treated them as submissive and inferior offenders. In this perspective, the feminist movement was crucial in realizing that law, especially criminal law, was built by men and for them. The reflection culminated in the realization that, in order to develop an effective criminal policy, a feminist and at the same time critical approach is necessary, recognizing the silence of criminology regarding the feminine issue and gender violence, as well as the appropriation by militancy of criticism of the criminal system, using the Law within a guarantor criminal law.