A knife and a pledge: Brazil’s candidates court women with promises to combat violence

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Clutching an oversized knife onstage during a recent campaign stop, Brazilian presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro vowed to inflict chemical castration on “rapists and child abusers,” drawing thunderous applause.

The tough-on-crime message comes as Bolsonaro seeks to appeal to women, who account for 53% of the electorate and played a decisive role in handing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a narrow 2022 victory over Bolsonaro’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro .

“Women are starting to have a perception of their role in elections,” said Rachel Ripani, co-founder of the movement Levante Mulheres Vivas, or Rise Alive Women. “They’re seeing their vote as something that they don’t want to be manipulated.”

Polls show Lula with a narrow lead over Sen. Bolsonaro in the Oct. 4 vote, but neither candidate is expected to win outright, making a runoff likely. Both have been courting swing voters, including women, with proposals to combat gender-based violence , a major campaign issue as violence against women reaches record levels and several high-profile cases draw attention.

“We’re building a Brazil (…) free of femicide, where no woman, inside or outside the home, lives under the threat of violence,” Lula told heads of state at last week's United Nations General Assembly in New York. “This is a cause that the entire world needs to embrace.”

More than one in three women in Brazil was a victim of sexual or gender-based violence over the course of a year, the highest number since tracking began in 2017, according to a 2025 report by the think tank Brazilian Forum on Public Safety. In 2025, 1,571 women were victims of femicide, the highest annual total since Brazil defined the crime in law in 2015, the forum said. Femicide is defined as the killing of a woman in a domestic setting or out of contempt for women.

Cases over the past year have drawn widespread public condemnation, including the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Copacabana; the death of a woman after her ex-boyfriend ran her over, trapped her beneath his car and dragged her over concrete for one kilometer, and the alleged killing of a military police officer by her husband, a member of the same institution.

Along with chemical castration, Sen. Bolsonaro proposes expanding spaces that provide shelter for victims of violence and the creation of an AI assistant that would allow victims to file reports, request a protective order and receive guidance and support.

Meanwhile, Lula pledged to expand protections introduced during his administration, particularly at the end of last year after a series of cases sparked demonstrations . Those measures include real-time monitoring of perpetrators of violence wearing electronic ankle bracelets.

Both Lula and Sen. Bolsonaro have advocated for tougher penalties for those who commit the crimes of violence against women, measures that would require parliamentary approval.

Aware of women’s electoral weight, activists are seeking to leverage that power to seek guarantees that such promises will not later be shelved.

Feminist groups are asking that candidates sign a letter committing to tackling gender-based violence as a priority and voting for a bill that seeks to criminalize misogyny, conducting surveys to define priorities, spotlighting female candidacies on websites and putting forward a shared legislative agenda.

Carmen Silva, a 61-year-old feminist who lives in the northeastern city of Recife, said this year her group Forum of Women of Pernambuco has two priorities: defending the limited right to abortion and a pledge to tackle the problem of gender-based violence through a multipronged approach including the introduction of education programs.

“Of course it’s easier to get commitments during the electoral period, but when women candidates are elected, we will cash in on those demands,” she said. “It’s not only about guaranteeing that women aren’t assassinated, but about giving them the possibilities of living a dignified life.”

Experts say part of the problem is a lack of funds to deploy protective measures and enact laws that already exist, an argument put forward by feminist candidates such as Luciana Boiteux, who is running for Rio’s state legislature.

“We have enough laws. As lawmakers, we will be vigilant with regards to the execution of these public policies,” said Boiteux at a recent campaign event in front of Rio de Janeiro State University.

As with efforts to combat violence against women, calls for increased political representation cross party lines.

Despite Brazilian women’s electoral weight, only around 19% of lawmakers and senators are women. Brazil also has Latin America's lowest level of female representation in politics, according to a study by Esfera Institute.

“Women have a long history of social mobilization in Brazil, but lately it became clear to these movements that the state matters and that they need to dispute that power,” said Marlise Miriam de Matos Almeida, a political scientist at the Federal University of Minas Gerais .

“Feminist movements have understood that it’s necessary to organize the female vote and mobilize forces to transform this quantitative power into something that allows more women to be elected,” she said.

The assassination of local councilwoman Marielle Franco inspired some Black women to run for office, Matos Almeida said, but political violence and insufficient resources continue to hinder the participation of women in politics.

The number of female candidates for Brazil’s lower house dropped by 24% in 2026 compared to 2022, according to the Chamber of Deputies.

Ripani said her movement is willing to work across party lines as long as candidates and those elected declare support for their policies.

“The priority for this election is voting for more women who fight for women,” she said. “We need to vote for people who understand our experience.”

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