Dilma Rousseff signs bill on victims of sexual violence without vetoes

Criado em 01/08/13 19h29 e atualizado em 02/08/13 15h48
Por Luana Lourenço Edição:s Fonte:Agência Brasil

Brasília – On Thursday (August 1), President Dilma Rousseff signed into law without vetoes a bill that makes it mandatory for public hospitals (“SUS”- the Unified Public Health Care System) to offer emergency and multidisciplinary care to victims of sexual violence. Services include diagnosis and treatment of lesions, along with medical exams for detecting sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. The new law also requires the preservation of collected material for forensic analysis.

Health minister Alexandre Padilha declares that the passing of the bill turns into law actions already recommended by the Ministry of Health. “When it was passed, [the bill] turned into law policies already officially established, which ensure that health care is to be offered with humanity and respect to all rape victims. I’m talking about children, teenagers, people with mental illnesses, men and women – any Brazilian citizen,” declared the minister.

The government left unchanged clauses in the law that provide emergency contraceptives for rape victims, such as the so-called morning-after pill. However, in a new bill that will be sent to Congress, changes will be made in the wording describing the way such contraceptives will be prescribed. Another change, according to Padilha, is that the term “prevention of pregnancy,” in the original bill, will be replaced with “medication with early effects on pregnancy caused by rape.” The change, according to the minister, will prevent it from being read as encouraging abortions in public hospitals.

In the new bill being submitted to Congress, the government will also rectify an inaccurate concept of sexual violence. The new phrasing defines it as “all forms of rape, notwithstanding other forms of misconduct mentioned in specific legislation.” The change was necessary because the original text left out children and people with mental illnesses who possibly could not give their consent to sexual activity.

According to the law, hospitals should provide victims of sexual violence with all the necessary psychological support, guidance as to how to proceed to the suitable forensic institution and assistance in filling out the appropriate police report. The medical professionals involved must facilitate the process of writing out police reports and submitting relevant information that can be useful in identifying the perpetrator and attesting to acts of sexual violence.

Editors: Nádia Franco / Olga Bardawil
Translators: Fabrício Ferreira / Olga Bardawil / Allen Bennett