Brazil has now stricter regulations to combat crimes of sexual violence against children and adolescents, including in digital environments and through the use of artificial intelligence.

A new law takes effect this Friday (Aug. 7), amending Brazil’s Statute of the Child and Adolescent – known as ECA – as well as a number of related criminal codes and acts, in order to impose harsher criminal penalties on the perpetrators of these offenses.

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Among the key changes, the legislation expands the scope for investigating sex crimes committed online. It authorizes law enforcement agencies to conduct online patrols to identify and collect files made available in public digital environments.

This activity does not require prior judicial authorization. The law also strengthens the role of undercover police officers online in investigating crimes.

Artificial intelligence

The new law explicitly addresses the use of AI in crimes related to child sexual violence. It increases penalties for perpetrators who use tools such as deepfakes, filters, or other means capable of altering images and voices to impersonate children or adolescents and groom victims.

In addition, there will be increased penalties for criminals who employ digital anonymization mechanisms – such as concealing or falsifying IP addresses and other identifiers – with the aim of hindering identification by authorities.

Regarding illegal material, the law broadens the definition of content depicting sexual violence against children and adolescents to include real or fictional depictions produced, manipulated, or generated by AI when they have sexual connotations.

Care for victims

The new law guarantees children and adolescents who are victims or witnesses of sexual violence the right to specialized, ongoing, and comprehensive psychological and psychosocial care. This support must take into account the emotional impacts resulting from the constant circulation of images and videos on the internet, including on international platforms.

The law also stipulates that victims must be provided care at health facilities within the country’s national health care system, the SUS, in an environment that ensures privacy and protection against access by unauthorized persons – especially the perpetrator.

In addition, the perpetrator will be required to fully reimburse the costs of the victim’s treatment, including services provided by the SUS.

Heinous crimes and preventive detention

The law also expands the list of crimes considered heinous, including various acts related to the production, dissemination, possession, and solicitation involving sexual violence against children and adolescents.

It also includes the possibility of preventive detention for crimes against sexual dignity committed against minors and for offenses under the ECA related to the sexual exploitation of children.

Furthermore, the legislation also imposes harsher penalties on members of criminal organizations involved in crimes against children and adolescents and strengthens measures for the forfeiture of assets and proceeds obtained through criminal activity.

More than half of Brazilian women (54%) who have been in relationships with men reported having experienced some form of violence from them. However, only 11 percent of men who have been in relationships with women admit to having committed acts of violence against partners or ex-partners.

The results are included in the study 20 anos da Lei Maria da Penha: percepção da sociedade brasileira (“Twenty Years of the Maria da Penha Law – Perceptions of Brazilian Society”), conducted by the Patrícia Galvão Institute and the Locomotiva Institute, with support from Uber, released this Wednesday (Jul. 29).

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The study heard from 1,500 people aged 16 and older from all regions of Brazil in April 2026, and aimed to present an up-to-date picture of how Brazilian society perceives domestic and family violence.

“Violence against women in Brazil remains at alarming and rising levels. In 2025, the Women’s Assistance Hotline recorded more than 1 million calls – a 45 percent increase over the previous year – and 155,000 reports of violence, which amounts to 425 cases per day,” says Vera Vieira, the Patrícia Galvão Institute Institute’s executive director.

Vieira believes that the figures reveal not only the persistence of physical, psychological, sexual, and property-related abuse in the home, but also the challenges still faced in effectively protecting women, even two decades after the Maria da Penha Law was enacted.

The Maria da Penha Law, enacted on August 7, 2006, is considered one of the most important legal milestones in combating domestic and family violence against women in Brazil.

The main obstacle cited by women to reporting domestic and family violence is the sense of impunity, mentioned by 56 percent of the respondents. Next, the slowness of the justice system in handling such cases is cited by 39 percent.

In addition, the majority of women (77%) believe that men still do not recognize certain behaviors as violence, and 82 percent believe that many men turn a blind eye when faced with violence committed by other men. The type of violence women most frequently report having suffered at the hands of a partner or ex-partner is psychological (42%), followed by physical (25%).

When witnessing a situation of violence against women, women most frequently state that they would call the police or other authorities, while men more often mention direct intervention, with or without the use of force. Women’s police stations are the support channel most familiar to Brazilian women, mentioned by three out of every four women.

According to the organizations that conducted the survey, the results show significant progress driven by legislation, but indicate that gender-based violence remains a structural problem, and conclude that overcoming this situation requires coordinated action by the government.

Knowledge of the law

“The data show that the Maria da Penha Law is a well-established mechanism recognized by society as essential for the protection of women. However, the study also raises a red flag – the law, on its own, is not seen as sufficient to combat domestic violence,” said Maíra Saruê, research director at the Locomotiva Institute.

The study concludes that, after 20 years, the Maria da Penha Law is widely known in Brazil and that virtually the entire population is familiar with it or has heard of it. Half of women (49%) say they are very familiar with the legislation. Despite this, 82 percent of Brazilian women believe that, on its own, the law is not sufficient to effectively address the problem.

Seven out of 10 women feel that this law has a real impact on women’s lives, and more than half (54%) feel more protected by the law’s existence. For three out of four Brazilian women, the law makes them more aware of the risks of experiencing violence.

Most women believe that, before the Maria da Penha Law, there was greater impunity and less protection for victims – 81 percent believe that inaction in the face of violence and a lack of support for women were prevalent, while 64 percent consider that the punishments imposed on perpetrators were lenient.

This piece of legislation is spontaneously described by most Brazilian women as intended to protect women. Nine out of 10 women (88%) say they are aware of the law’s provisions for cases of physical violence, but less than half (46%) know that economic violence is included among the forms of violence covered by the law.

Eight out of 10 Brazilian women (83%) are aware of the emergency protective measures outlined in the law. However, awareness of property protection measures reaches only 38 percent of these women.

The survey director emphasizes that a significant portion of Brazilians still normalizes violent behaviors in relationships, especially those related to control and surveillance.

“This is quite concerning because, as the survey shows, psychological violence is the reality most frequently faced by women.”