Special police squads are taking part in a new special program aimed at protecting female victims of domestic violence in Rio de Janeiro.

The Maria da Penha squads, named after a victim-turned activist , whose name is also on Brazil’s first law to impose tighter penalties for domestic crimes, are now available in five of the country's twenty-six states.

CGTN followed the officers in one of their visits to the home of a victim to evaluate her condition and assess her risk. In this case, an 86-year-old well-known Brazilian actress who asked for a restraining order against her drug addict grandson who lived with her.

He was stealing all my money, and this was going to continue on and on, if I hadn't asked for help. There was no physical aggression, but I don't know what could have happened if he stayed, she said.

Mrs. Garcia has reasons to be scared. According to the latest numbers released by the Brazilian Public Security Forum, 13 women are killed every day in Brazil, almost 40% in their own homes.

The program was launched five months ago in the state of Rio de Janeiro and it has already assisted more than three thousand victims of domestic violence. Most of them had restraining orders against their abusers.

Major Claudia Moraes, the program’s coordinator, says its officers have arrested more than eighty men since the program was launched: When we talk about more than 80 arrests, we could be talking about saving the lives of 80 women. In 2018 we registered 288 domestic assault attempts with an average of one in every five ending in femicide.

The main goal of the program is to reduce recidivism and it is with the brand-new squads that Rio’s police aim to scare off as many offenders as possible and, specially, avoid more femicides.

(CGTN)