AMPLIAÇÃO DO DEPOIMENTO ESPECIAL ÀS MULHERES VÍTIMAS DE VIOLÊNCIA DOMÉSTICA: efetividade do instituto para além das crianças e adolescentes.

Abstract

This article seeks to investigate and critically analyze the feasibility of expanding the scope of the Protected Hearing Act (Act No. 13.431/2017), particularly regarding the applicability of special testimony to adult women who are victims of crimes against sexual dignity, with emphasis on the context of domestic violence. The rationale for this research is grounded in the urgent necessity of extending the special testimony mechanism to all women, irrespective of age, in order to safeguard the comprehensive protection of their human dignity. Such an approach entails a paradigm shift: from conceiving the victim merely as an evidentiary instrument to affirming her status as a subject of rights. The methodological framework employed encompasses exploratory, dialectical, and explanatory research, drawing upon the analysis of existing legislation, as well as documentary and bibliographic studies. Accordingly, the study concludes that the extension of special testimony to adult women subjected to sexual crimes in situations of domestic violence constitutes a legitimate and imperative measure to mitigate the effects of secondary victimization—a phenomenon that must be decisively confronted by any State that purports to be democratic and genuinely committed to the protection of human rights.