This ruling puts an end to a provision in effect since 1940—contained in Article 181 of the Penal Code—which exempted individuals from criminal penalties for committing certain property crimes against their spouses or family members.

This legal provision allowed a spouse who committed crimes such as theft, robbery, extortion, misappropriation, or fraud against his wife’s assets and financial resources to escape criminal punishment.

The process began when judge Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli, the rapporteur for the case, voted in favor of removing this legal protection; the other members of the Court joined his position during this Thursday’s session.

Carmen Lucia, the only woman among the members of the Supreme Federal Court, noted that economic abuse—or “property-related violence”—remains a reality in the daily lives of many Brazilian women.

She cited instances where women—including public servants—hand over their entire salaries to their partners to avoid conflict, a practice that highlights the dynamics of economic dependency that can develop within households.

For his part, Judge Alexandre de Moraes pointed out that this provision is rooted in a patriarchal family model, which granted men a position of authority over other family members.

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