NGO is a pioneer in the empowerment of women against gender violence in Brazil

Do you know what to do when a woman is a victim of violence? Should we interfere? How can we help in these situations? These are some questions that accompany women in the training courses of Promotoras Legais Populares – PLP (Popular Legal Promoters), which have been promoted since 1993 by Themis, in Rio Grande do Sul, state located in southern Brazil. 

Through popular education, lawyers, judges, municipal guards, health professionals, among other experts, participate in conversation wheels and have basic notions of what to do in these cases. 

“Promotoras Legais Populares encourage women who are within a cycle of violence. Sometimes these women just need someone to listen, we have to respect their time to take the next step,” explains Maria de Fátima Costa, coordinator of the PLP initiative at Themis.

In the meantime, these women are being involved with other networks, such as Centro de Referência de Assistência Social – CRAS (Social Assistance Reference Centers), for example, and are then invited to participate in conversation wheels. “In this way, they are able to see that they are not alone, there are other women who are going through the same situations,” says Maria de Fátima Costa.

Access to justice 

The PLP training programs show what women’s rights are – especially regarding domestic violence and sexual and reproductive rights – and offers ways to guarantee them, indicating the best paths to access to justice, services and public policies. 

Violence, it must be remembered, can occur in many ways. In addition to physical aggression, women can be the victim of psychological, moral, sexual and patrimonial violence. “Many women who do the training suffer violence, but do not realize it. I have reports of colleagues who do not know that they are suffering other types of violence. Training opens their eyes,” explains Fatima. 

“After the course, women become empowered in a way that goes in search of the neighborhood’s service networks and begin to engage with other movements, with other relationships, to multiply the information they have learned in the course. The course makes you a cream multiplier,” he continues.

Themis 

The training project for PLP began in Peru in the late 1980s under the name Paralegals. Since then, it has been maintained throughout Latin America. In Brazil, Themis was the first organization to offer this type of training in Brazil. 

Since then, it has promoted 17 courses in Rio Grande do Sul, training more than 1,500 PLPs in the state and collaborating with the training of women in 11 other Brazilian states. It also instituted a state policy to combat violence and participated in the consortium that drafted the Lei Maria da Penha (Maria da Penha Law). 

For Fátima, by addressing women’s rights, the training ends up encouraging them to seek better living conditions. “Many women, when they get married or have children, stop studying. With the course, they end up going back and even going to college. We have legal promoters today who are lawyers, social workers, nurses, etc.” 

Pomotoras Legais Populares (Popular Legal Promoters)

A woman who becomes a PLP encourages others to do the same. They literally join hands to defend women’s rights and together they grow stronger. Fátima herself, who is now a coordinator for the PLPs at Themis, began the training at the invitation of another leader. 

“I am a black woman, I live in Restinga, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Porto Alegre, and I have always been involved with my community and the residents’ association. A PLP who took the first Themis training saw my potential to pursue other work and invited me,” she recalls. 

The PLPs also connect with the municipal service network, holding regular meetings in the community with representatives from the police station, the courthouse, the health center, etc. As a result, they end up becoming known not only in the community, but also by the people who work in these services. 

“It’s a laborious effort, but it’s ongoing work. We see several generations going through the training. Women are empowered!” Fátima says proudly.

Violence against women 

According to data from the Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação do Ministério da Saúde -Sinan/MS (Ministry of Health’s Notification Information System), in 2023 60% of cases of violence against women were committed against black and brown women, while 37.5% were against white women. 

In 76% of these records, the aggressor is male. The residence is a higher risk place for women, because this is where 72% of notifications occur. 

In 2024, 1,450 femicides were registered in Brazil, according to women’s socioeconomic report Relatório Anual Socioeconômico da Mulher Raseam/2025 (Women’s Socioeconomic Annual Report of the 2025). In addition to the crimes motivated by gender, there were 2,485 willful homicides (with the intention of killing, but without being motivated for reasons linked to the condition of women). 

Raseam data also shows that Brazil recorded 71,892 cases of rape of women, the equivalent of 196 rapes per day. Despite the high number of records, there was a rap of1.44% in cases of rape and 5% in all cases of lethal violence against women in relation to records of 2023.

In an article released by Agência Brasil, the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, explains that this is due to the efforts of public policies, national mobilization for zero femicide, national debates and the change of behavior about the time to intervene in cases of violence. 

“This means that someone is intervening before the fact happens, that someone is taking an initiative. This is what we need: a society that does not shut up, that does not say that this is only the responsibility of the state. Priority, it is the state, but it is throughout society to intervene, connect, guide and talk about.”

In case of violence, report it! 

By witnessing an episode of aggression against women, call 190 and report it! It is also possible to make complaints at 180 – Women’s Service Center in Brazil. 

Support this cause! 

Make a donation to Themis and follow social networks on Instagram and  Facebook.