Maria Laura Monteza de Souza Carneiro (born 1 May 1963) is a Brazilian lawyer and politician.

[1] Carneiro began her career becoming a parliamentary advisor for Ulysses Guimarães, the then president of the Brazilian Constituent Assembly of 1988.

She has presented more than a thousand propositions since her first mandate as councilwoman in 1989, mainly relating to combatting violence against women, having also firmly making efforts behind the scenes in Congress to approve the Maria da Penha law.

This includes Law 13.413/17, creating comprehensive legislation to protect the rights of children and adolescent victims and witnesses of violence.

[6] Carneiro was also able to approve laws that banned child marriage in Brazil, as well as laws regulating the release by telephone services about cases related to violence against women, in relation to Poder Público that had intensively advertised of Disque 180 in public and private in great circulation.

[9] She would eventually become a member of more than 10 special commissions, highlighting to put forth resources for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro that year, as well as her coordinating the attempt to resolve the fiscal crisis hitting the state of Rio de Janeiro.