Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Fortaleza, CearĂ¡, Brazil
About Maria da Penha
- Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes is a Brazilian biopharmacist and women human rights defender.
- She advocates for women rights, particularly against domestic violence.
- Born in 1945 in Fortaleza, in the Brazilian state of CearĂ¡, Maria da Penha was a victim of domestic violence by her husband.
- She brought a case against her attacker to be condemned, first in the Federal Court of Brazil and later in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. On August 7, 2006, the president of Brazil Luiz InĂ¡cio Lula da Silva put the Federal Brazilian Law 11340 into practice.
- Now known as the Law Maria da Penha, it increased the severity of punishment for domestic violence against women, whenever it occurred in a domestic or family environment.
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