Brazil's Congress adopts national plan to fight violence against women
The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate approved a package of measures aimed at strengthening the national response to violence against women. On 7 July 2026 the lower house passed a complementary bill establishing a Sistema Nacional de Enfrentamento da Violência contra Meninas e Mulheres, which will coordinate assistance channels and prioritize cases at risk of femicide. The Senate ratified a separate law on 8 July 2026 that mandates continuous, nationwide publicity of the hotline Ligue 180 through schools, transport hubs, media, public buildings and cultural venues.
Both laws allocate up to R$ 5 billion, to be distributed over the 2026‑2028 budgets, to fund protection services, shelters and prevention programmes under the Pacto Nacional Brasil contra o Feminicídio. The measures also require multilingual support for the hotline and expand its digital access via WhatsApp and a multilingual chat service.