Imported Labels, Local Struggles: Rethinking Carceral and Abolitionist Feminisms in Brazil

Violence against women has been a crucial topic in feminist debates and political demands, at first addressing struggles related to domestic abuse and sexual assault. More recently, they have adopted a broader understanding of offenses interpreted as gender-based violence, advocating for their classification as hate crimes. While such demands have provided visibility that led to shaping legal changes and public policies, they have also faced growing criticism both within and outside of the feminist spectrum. When reaching academic attention, those debates have been at times oversimplified into a dispute between ‘carceral feminists’ and ‘abolitionist feminists’. These tensions are increasingly present in the Brazilian context and have now emerged in activists’ debates outside academia, where they were previously set. In this scenario, this paper presents the early results of my ongoing post-doctoral research comparing two groups or political organizations. The first consists of feminist organizations working on gender violence and supporting legal reforms to increase criminal sanctions. The second includes penal abolitionist organizations, mainly run by women who do not always identify their activism as part of the feminist struggle but rather align their political engagement more closely with the agendas of the Black movement. By conducting empirical quantitative research gathering data from documents produced by the organizations and interviews with activists, the results point to the existence of blurred lines in the dichotomy ‘carceral’ vs. ‘abolitionist’ feminism. This shows a more complex understanding of gender violence, in which feminist organizations working with the criminal justice system can also be critical of the solutions it provides for victims. Meanwhile, abolitionist organizations do not perceive feminism as fully embracing their political goals. Addressing theses complexities allows a more accurate picture of the current political discussions on gender violence and penal abolitionism in Brazil and challenge foreign labels adopted by academics and increasingly present in public discourse, revealing how racial dynamics are often overlooked yet remain central to understanding these political tensions.