Symbolic and Transformative: Alignments Toward Feminicídio Legal Reform inside the Brazilian Police

Abstract

Feminism travels unevenly through state structures, and the state’s incorporation of feminist ideas remains controversial within feminist movements. This study uses the Brazilian Feminicídio Law, which increases punishment for gender-based homicides, as a case study to ask how law enforcement actors adopt a feminist legal reform. Data come from one year of in-depth fieldwork across police stations in a major Brazilian city and from newspaper articles. I show that state actors accept the feminist legal frame based on previous understandings of police practices. However, institutional divisions led them to develop different alignments toward the new legal reform. While police officers from the homicide division symbolically align toward feminicídio and do not aim to change police practices, officers from the women’s division perceive feminicídio as an opportunity to claim significant changes in police practices, revealing a transformative alignment. Struggles over legitimation and diverging professional beliefs and interests explain the two distinct responses.