Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes is a Brazilian biopharmacist and women human rights defender.

[1] Born in 1945 in Fortaleza, in the Brazilian state of Ceará, Maria da Penha was a victim of domestic violence by her husband.

On August 7, 2006, the president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva put the Federal Brazilian Law 11340 into practice.

[4] In 2001, the episode came to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) and for the first time in history it was considered a crime of domestic violence.

[5] The Commission published a report blaming the Brazilian government for negligence and omission regarding domestic violence.

[6] On August 7, 2006, the Brazilian government sanctioned the law against domestic violence toward women, entering into force on September 22 of that year.