Brazil's Federal Law 11340, also known as Lei Maria da Penha (Portuguese: [ˈlej mɐˈɾi.ɐ dɐ ˈpẽɲɐ], Maria da Penha Law) targets gender based violence in Brazil, with the specific aim of reducing domestic violence in the country. Sanctioned on August 7, 2006 by former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and subsequently implemented on September 22, 2006, the law is an important contribution to an international movement of criminalizing violence against women. The name of the law is an homage to the Brazilian activist Maria da Penha Maia, a former victim of domestic violence. Background Violence against women, specifically domestic violence, remains a pervasive issue in Latin America. Domestic violence can be defined as, “physical, sexual, and verbal aggression…typical of sexism and a way to strengthen men's power within the household, especially if they feel economically insecure.” According to the Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, 66% of Brazilian men have perpetrated violence against a woman in his community and 70% of Brazilian women identified as having experienced some form of violence in a public space before the age of 24. In early 2017, an in-depth examination of gender based violence in Brazil determined that only a quarter of women who experience violence by the hands of an intimate partner report incidents to the authorities. Despite strong statistical evidence supporting widespread violence against women in Brazilian households, few legal initiatives existed in Brazil to challenge this systematic violence against women. Until 2009, domestic abuse could be dismissed by the court if the woman was not deemed to be “honest.” In 2006, with intense media focus on the high-profile case of Maria da Penha, the Brazilian government created the Maria da Penha Law (named in da Penha's honor) in an attempted response to international criticism. Over the course of her 23-year marriage, Maria da Penha was domestically abused by her husband, resulting in da Penha becoming paraplegic after two murder attempts. Following these events, da Penha, along with the Center for Justice for International Law (CEJIL) and the Latin American Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights (CLADEM), spent the next twenty years fighting her husband through the Brazilian legal system; da Penha filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, emphasizing the need for the state to intervene in combating gender based violence in the country. Components of the law The Maria da Penha law aims to reduce domestic