Speech by President Lula at the launch of the National Pact: Brazil Against Femicide

Well, first of all, I would like to share some good news from last week. For the first time, the government filed a lawsuit to hold people accountable for crimes of violence against women. It is a civil action with economic consequences, requiring the aggressor to pay child support until the child reaches 21 years of age. It was not the first time such a lawsuit had been filed, but it was the first time the government itself took responsibility for seeking financial accountability. And, thank God, the 2nd Federal Court of Marília [São Paulo] ruled in favor of the Attorney General of the Union [Advocacia-Geral da União/AGU].

It is a good start, because in this country, there was a very important senator from São Paulo (who was also governor, and whom many of you knew, Senator Franco Montoro) who used to say that Brazil’s problem is that there are laws that take hold and laws that do not. And if there are laws that take hold and laws that do not, then something is wrong with this framework for punishing those who commit violence against women. So, my dear Benjamin Herman [Herman Benjamin, president of the Superior Court of Justice], we will be able to identify where this system is failing, where it allows those who commit crimes to believe that they will not be punished.

My dear friends, my dear partner Janja [Lula da Silva, first lady], I must publicly express my gratitude for the many times you have alerted me to the seriousness of violence against women.

My dear Davi Alcolumbre, president of the Federal Senate; my dear Hugo Motta, president of the Chamber of Deputies; my dear Edson Fachin, president of the Supreme Court; my dear comrade Alckmin [Geraldo], vice president of the Republic; Rui Costa [minister of the Civil House]; Gleisi Hoffmann [minister of the Secretariat of Institutional Relations]; Márcia [Lopes, minister of Women]; ministers and guests present here today; the president of CUT [Sérgio Nobre], representing the trade union movement; our attorney general of the Republic [Paulo Gonet]; our public defender general of the Republic [Leonardo Magalhães]… this is a very long list, and I will not be able to read three pages to thank all the congressmen and congresswomen, and all the distinguished figures who are here.

First of all, I would like to tell the press that today’s photograph is important. I do not know how many times in the history of humanity there has been an event in which the three branches of the Republic come together, alongside all democratic institutions, to alert society to the problem we are facing.

At the same time, this photograph shows that this is not the first time an act has been held in defense of women. You have marched so many times, held so many meetings, and demanded so many legislative bills.

So what is new about this moment? It is that, for the first time, men are assuming responsibility: acknowledging that the struggle to defend women does not concern only women; it concerns the aggressors, the men. What we are saying to the Brazilian trade union movement is that this is a topic for factories. It is a topic for workers’ assemblies. And what we are saying to congressmen and congresswomen is that this must be a subject in all their speeches, not only on International Women’s Day or during women’s marches.

What we are calling for is an understanding that, when we speak about this issue, we are also seeking to raise awareness among children. We are telling our teachers that this is a subject that spans the entire educational journey, from daycare to university. We are asking whether, when a young person graduates as a doctor from a university, regardless of their field of study, they can also become a professional who respects women, human rights, and citizenship. That is what we are talking about. We are also asking whether a six-year-old child who joins a soccer team dreaming of becoming a famous player is being prepared, so that when fame comes, they will reject the nonsense that some Brazilian athletes believe they are entitled to because of money.

Ultimately, what we are talking about is the possibility of creating a new civilization:  a civilization of equals, in which it is not sex that makes the difference, but behavior and respect. That is what this photograph symbolizes, my dear governor of the State of Piauí [Rafael Fonteles]. Perhaps this is the first photograph in which we men are here together with our partners, saying: this fight is not only yours. This fight is not resolved simply by passing a law. This fight will only end when society as a whole, men and women, remains permanently committed to accountability and punishment.

So that never again may a man dare to turn his partner into his slave in exchange for a plate of food, or treat her as if he owned her. Because we want our partners to understand when we get home late at night, but we cannot tolerate women arriving five minutes late. We want women to understand when we go out to play soccer with our friends, or do something else, have a dose of whiskey, or have more wine when we get home. We want them to understand. But we do not understand when our partners come home half an hour later than expected and say, “I went to get pizza with my friends.” We want to go to parties alone, but we do not accept it when our partners say, “I am also going to a party, but I do not want to go with you. I want to go with my friends.” We think that men can wear whatever they want, but that women can only wear what men allow them to wear.

This will only come to an end through a great deal of politics and a great deal of awareness. And that is what this movement is saying, my dear president of the Supreme Court; my dear president of the Federal Senate; my dear president of the Chamber of Deputies; ministers; congressmen and congresswomen; my dear attorney general and public defender general of the Republic; my dear representatives of social movements.

This is what we are saying: today, in this country, we are beginning a new era in the relationship between men and women. Between those who are civilized and those who are not. Between those who respect and those who do not.

We need to be very firm on this issue. That is why I opened my speech by thanking my wife: because if she had not reminded me every day that this situation is unacceptable, I might well (like almost all men) have been content with simply issuing a statement of solidarity with women’s marches.

What we are saying today is this: we do not want to issue statements. What we want is to be partners, so that together we can help Brazilian society (and perhaps even humanity) to improve, because what we are doing here today goes far beyond Brazil’s borders.

Friends,

Every day, four women are victims of femicide in Brazil. This means that every six hours, a woman is murdered simply because she is a woman. It means that, from the moment we left home today until now, a woman’s life has been cut short by violence.

Simply because she was a woman.

A dear friend. A colleague. A neighbor who worked double shifts to feed her children. A woman. A girl. A teenager.

According to a Federal Senate survey, 27 percent of Brazilian women state that they suffered some form of domestic or family violence in 2025.

At this very moment, while we are signing this Pact, a woman is being assaulted: slapped, punched, kicked, suffocated, beaten, pulled by the hair, and verbally abused.

Dragged by cars. Injured on the asphalt. Disfigured, under the gaze of elevator cameras.

So many Tainaras, Fernandas, Catarinas, Ritas, Marias, Alanes, Laíses...

Women who are prevented from living simply because they are women.

For saying no to a relationship.

For exercising the right to decide about their own lives, and for redefining paths that no longer served them.

Femicide challenges the very structures designed to prevent and combat it, and it has been rising at an alarming rate in this country.

It is unacceptable that women continue to be beaten and murdered every day under the gaze of a society that sins by omission. A society that remains silent in the face of everyday scenes of abuse and violence.

This must be made very clear: any sign of mistreatment in the street, shouting in the neighborhood, abuse and intolerance in the workplace… every violent gesture is a femicide foretold.

We must not remain silent. We must no longer be negligent or pretend that this has nothing to do with us, or that we should not interfere in a dispute between husband and wife. We do have something to do with it. And yes: we are going to interfere.

My friends,

The Pact we signed today must go far beyond the spheres of the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial branches.

Fighting femicide and all forms of violence against women must be the responsibility of society as a whole. But above all, and especially, of men.

It is not enough to refrain from being an aggressor. It is also essential to act, to speak out, and to fight so that no more acts of aggression are committed.

Every man in this country has a mission.

To speak with friends, cousins, uncles, neighbors, co-workers, bar companions, and soccer teammates. We must not be negligent.

As public authorities, we will strengthen the instruments of protection, prevention, and support.

And as men, we will, brick by brick, dismantle this sexist culture that shames us all.

It is essential to punish aggressors with rigor. It is also essential to educate boys, to raise awareness among young people and adults, and to make them understand the seriousness of the crime they are committing. And to make it clear that nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies any form of violence against girls and women, whether in real life or in digital spaces.

My friends,

We know that the domestic environment is the setting for much of this violence. Most women who are victims of femicide are killed by current or former husbands and boyfriends, but also by strangers they encounter in the streets.

By men who do not accept being led by women. To those men, it is necessary to say, loudly and clearly:

Women are occupying more and more leadership positions in the labor market. And they will achieve even more through justice and merit. Because a woman’s place is wherever she chooses to be.

It is unacceptable that, even as we strengthen instruments of protection such as the Maria da Penha Law and the Femicide Law, men continue to assault and murder women.

There was a time when the so-called defense of honor was used to justify violence against women. Jealousy can no longer serve as a justification. It never should have. Yet it remains one of the main arguments invoked by murderers in their own defense.

Meanwhile, some digital networks are teaching boys and adolescents to hate women.

Digital platforms can no longer be used by criminals who lure girls, subject them to abuse, and drive them toward self-harm and, too often, death.

It is up to each man to transform this reality. To turn this situation around.

We must ensure that women feel protected, free, and safe.

Whether on the internet, at home, on the streets, in the workplace… anywhere, at any time. Dressed in the clothes that make them happiest. In the company of whomever they choose. The safety of girls and women is a necessary condition for our evolution as a society, and for the full exercise of democracy.

Often, exhausted by so much barbarism, we may even think that the struggle is lost. That our enemies are the majority. That evil has prevailed. That is not true.

We are many. And we were made for love, not for hate. For joy, not for fear. For embraces, not for violence. Together, we can build a more humanistic, more fraternal, and more caring world.

The responsibility is ours. Let us fight this together.

Thank you very much.