In São Paulo, a city of more than 12 million people, thousands of women each year obtain a court order to keep a violent partner away. But an order on paper does not stop an aggressor at the door. Since 2014, the Maria da Penha Guardian Program has worked to close that gap. Specialized teams of the city’s Metropolitan Civil Guard visit women under protective orders, check that the orders are respected and respond within minutes when they are not.
Background
The Maria da Penha Law recognizes domestic violence as a human rights violation and allows courts to issue emergency protective measures, such as barring an aggressor from approaching or contacting the victim. Yet too often, these measures offer protection only on paper. In a megacity like São Paulo, this implementation gap is especially wide. Gender-based violence remains widespread, and fear, shame and economic dependence keep many women from reporting abuse or leaving violent relationships. A protective order only protects a woman if someone makes sure it is respected. São Paulo decided that this should be a task for the city.
The Project
The program was created by municipal decree in 2014. A year later it was anchored in municipal law, which obliges the city to keep it running regardless of political changes. When a court grants a protective order, the State Public Prosecutor’s Office forwards it to the Civil Guard. Officers screen the most urgent cases and visit the woman at home to assess her situation. Only then is she offered a place in the program, which is entirely voluntary.
Women who join receive regular visits, more often when the risk is higher, as well as unannounced patrols. That unpredictability is deliberate, an aggressor who never knows when the Guard might appear has far less room to act. The officers, who are specially trained, also refer women to the city’s wider protection network, from the 24-hour Brazilian Women’s House to legal and psychological support and confidential shelters.
Technology adds a further layer of protection. When an order is violated, the aggressor is often in the same house or even the same room, and a phone call could put the woman at greater risk. Through the Women’s App, she can instead send a silent alert with her location to the nearest patrol car. According to the city, teams arrive within five to seven minutes on average. The app has been used for more than 2,500 emergency calls since 2018.
The program has grown with demand. It began with 12 officers and two vehicles, and now has 185 officers and 23 vehicles dedicated exclusively to this work. Annual visits rose from 719 in its first year to more than 50,000 in 2025, and by April 2026 over 23,000 women had been enrolled. The program has also become a reference for other Brazilian municipalities, whose guards attend São Paulo’s annual seminars on domestic violence prevention. It shows how a local government can turn a national law into protection that women feel in their daily lives.
