Brazil

Summary of Domestic Prohibition

Slavery and slave trade

Provisions related to slavery are found in the Penal Code at article 149 which criminalises reducing a person to a condition analogous to that of a slave.

Practices similar to slavery

Provisions related to institutions and practices similar to slavery are found in the Penal Code at article 149 which criminalises reducing a person to a condition analogous to that of a slave.

Servitude

There appears to be no legislation in place in Brazil which prohibits servitude, although submitting a person to any type of servitude may form an element of the offence of human trafficking under article 149-A.

Forced or compulsory labour

Provisions related to forced labour are found in the Penal Code at article 149 which criminalises reducing a person to a condition analogous to that of a slave by subjecting them to forced labour.

Human trafficking

Provisions related to trafficking in persons are found in the Penal Code as amended in 2016 at article 149-A.

Forced marriage

Provisions related to forced marriage in Brazil are found in the 2019 Penal Code, which addresses contracting a marriage by inducing the other contracting party into an essential error, or concealing an impediment at Article 236, with a potential penalty of imprisonment from six months to two years. Article 237 also prohibits marrying while knowing the existence of an impediment that causes absolute nullity, with a potential penalty of imprisonment from three months to one year.

Consent to marriage

There appears to be no legislation in Brazil that requires consent to marriage. However, section 1,558 of the civil code 2002 recognises that the consent of a party or prospective party to a marriage is invalidated where the person is subjected to coercion.

Servile marriage

There appears to be no legislation in Brazil that prohibits servile matrimonial transactions.

Marriage trafficking

There appears to be no legislation in Brazil that prohibits marriage trafficking.

Minimum age for marriage

The minimum age for marriage in Brazil is 18, without differentiation by gender, as set out on Article 1.520 of the 2002 Civil Code, as amended in 2019. Where marriages are conducted involving a person below the minimum age, the marriage is voidable, as set out on Article 1.550 the 2002 Civil Code. However, marriages below this age are permitted with authorization from both parents or legal representatives, as set out on 1.517 of the 2002 Civil Code. These exceptions are not differentiated by gender, and allow marriages as early as 16.

Region

Latin America and Caribbean

Regional Court

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Legal System

Civil

International Instruments

1926 Slavery Convention
Not Party
1953 Protocol to the Slavery Convention
Not Party
1956 Supplementary Slavery Convention
06 January 1966
1966 ICCPR
24 January 1992
1930 Forced Labour Convention
25 April 1957
2014 Protocol to the 1930 Forced Labour Convention
Not Party
1957 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
18 June 1965
1999 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
02 February 2000
2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons
29 January 2004
1998 Rome Statute of the ICC
20 June 2002
1956 Supplementary Slavery Convention
06 January 1966
1966 ICCPR
24 January 1992
1966 Optional Protocol to the ICCPR
25 September 2009
1966 ICESCR
24 January 1992
2008 Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
Not Party
1962 Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
11 February 1970
1957 Convention on the Nationality of Married Women
04 December 1968
1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child
24 September 1990
2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
27 January 2004
2011 Optional Protocol to the CRC on a communications procedure
29 September 2017
1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
01 February 1984
1999 Optional Protocol to CEDAW
28 June 2002
1978 Convention on the Celebration and Recognition of the Validity of Marriages
Not Party
2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons
29 January 2004
1998 Rome Statute of the ICC
20 June 2002
1999 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
02 February 2000

International Obligations

  • Slavery
  • Servitude
  • Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery
  • Forced Labour
  • Human Trafficking
  • Marriage Trafficking

Regional Organisations

  • Inter-American Court of Human Rights
  • Organisation of American States

Legislative Provisions

CONSTITUTION 1988 (REV. 2015)

Article 5

Everyone is equal before the law, with no distinction whatsoever, guaranteeing to Brazilians and foreigners residing in the Country the inviolability of the rights to life, liberty, equality, security and property, on the following terms:

XIII. exercise of any job, trade or profession is free, observing the professional qualifications that the law establishes;

XLVII. there shall be no penalties:

c. of forced labor;

LIV. no one shall be deprived of liberty or property without due process of law;

Article 7

The following are rights of urban and rural workers, in addition to any others designed to improve their social condition:

IV. a national uniform minimum wage, fixed by law, capable of meeting a worker’s basic living needs and those of his family, for housing, nourishment, education, health, leisure, clothing, hygiene, transportation and social security, with periodic adjustments to maintain its purchasing power, prohibiting linkage to it as index for any purpose;

V. a salary floor in proportion to the extent and complexity of the work;

VI. Irreducibility of salaries or wages, except when provided for in a collective agreement or accord;

VII. for those receiving variable compensation, a guaranty that the salary or wage will never fall below the minimum wage;

XXXIII. prohibition of nighttime, dangerous or unhealthy work for those under eighteen years of age, and of any work for those under the age of sixteen, except as an apprentice;

Sole Paragraph: The category of domestic workers is assured the rights set out in subparagraphs IV, VI, VII, VIII, X, XIII, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII, XXIV, XXVI, XXX, XXXI and XXXIII, and taking into consideration the conditions established in law and observing the simplification of the performance of the principal and accessory tax obligations, the provisions in the subparagraphs I, II, III, IX, XII, XXV and XXVIII, as well as integration into the social security system.

Article 68

Final title shall be recognized for the remaining members of the former fugitive slave communities who are occupying their lands, and the State shall grant them the respective deeds.

Article 227

It is the duty of the family, the society and the Government to assure children, adolescents, and youths, with absolute priority, the rights to life, health, nourishment, education, leisure, professional training, culture, dignity, respect, liberty and family and community harmony, in addition to safeguarding them against all forms of negligence, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty and oppression.

§3°. The right to special protection shall encompass the following aspects:

I. a minimum age of fourteen years to be allowed to work, observing the provisions of art. 7°, XXXIII;

II. guarantee of social security and labor rights;

Article 243

Rural and urban properties in any region of Brazil on which illegal cultivation of psychotropic plants or the exploitation of slave labor, as provided by law, are found shall be expropriated and destined for agrarian reform and programs of popular housing, without any compensation to the owner and without prejudice to other sanctions provided by law, observing, to the extent applicable, the provisions of art. 5.

Constitution 1988 (PDF)

PENAL CODE 1940

Art. 148 Kidnapping and private jail

Depriving someone of their freedom by means of abduction or private jail:

Penalty – imprisonment, from one to three years.

Paragraph 1 – The penalty is imprisonment, from two to five years:

I – if the victim is an ascendant, descendant, spouse or companion of the agent or greater than 60 (sixty) years;

II – if the crime is committed through hospitalization of the victim in a health home or hospital;

III – if the deprivation of liberty lasts more than 15 (fifteen) days.

IV – if the crime is committed against a minor of 18 (eighteen) years;

V – if the crime is committed for libidinous purposes.

Paragraph 2 – If the victim, due to ill-treatment or the nature of the detention, causes grave physical or moral suffering:

Penalty – imprisonment, from two to eight years.

Art. 149 Reduction of slave-like condition

To reduce a person to the condition analogous to that of a slave, whether by subjecting him to forced labor or an exhaustive journey, by subjecting him to degrading conditions of work, or by restricting by any means his movement by reason of debt contracted with the employer or agent.

Penalty – imprisonment, from two to eight years, and a fine, in addition to the punishment corresponding to the violence.

§ 1 the same penalties apply to those who:

I – restricts the use of any means of transport by the worker, in order to keep him in the workplace;

II – maintains ostensive surveillance in the workplace or seizes documents or personal objects of the worker, in order to keep him or her in the workplace.

§ 2 the penalty is increased by half if the crime is committed:

I – against children or adolescents;

II – for reasons of prejudice of race, color, ethnicity, religion or origin.

Art. 149-A Trafficking in Persons

(Introduced by Law No 13.344 of October 6 2016)

By means of serious threat, violence, coercion, fraud or abuse, for the purpose of:

I – removing organs, tissues or parts of the body;

II – submitting it to work under conditions analogous to slavery;

III – submit it to any type of servitude;

IV – illegal adoption; Or

V – sexual exploitation.

Penalty – imprisonment, from 4 (four) to 8 (eight) years, and fine.

Paragraph 1. The penalty shall be increased by one-third to one-half if:

I – the crime is committed by a civil servant in the exercise of his functions or on the pretext of exercising them;

II – the crime is committed against a child, adolescent or elderly person or with a disability;

III – the agent prevails in relations of kinship, domestic relations, cohabitation, hospitality, economic dependence, authority or hierarchical superiority inherent in the exercise of employment, position or function; Or

IV – the victim of trafficking in persons is removed from the national territory.

Paragraph 2. The penalty is reduced from one to two thirds if the agent is primary and does not integrate criminal organization.

Art. 206 Entice for the end of emigration

Recruit workers, through fraud, in order to take them to foreign territory

Penalty – detention, from 1 (one) to 3 (three) years and fine.

Art. 207 Enticing workers from one place to another in the national territory

Enlisting workers in order to take them from one place to another in the national territory:

Penalty – detention of one to three years, and fine.

§ 1 In the same penalty, the recruitment of workers outside the locality of execution of the work within the national territory, by fraud or collection of any amount of the worker, or, moreover, does not guarantee conditions of their return to the place of origin.

§ 2 The penalty is increased from one sixth to one third if the victim is under eighteen years old, pregnant, pregnant, indigenous or with physical or mental disability.

Article 231 International traffic in persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation

To promote or facilitate the entry into the national territory of someone who may engage in prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, or the departure of someone who is going to practice it abroad.

Penalty – imprisonment, from 3 (three) to 8 (eight) years.

§ 1 The same person who acts as agent, solicits or acquires the trafficked person, as well as, having knowledge of this condition, transports, transfers or lodges it.

§ 2 the The penalty is increased by half if:

I – the victim is under 18 (eighteen) years;

II – the victim, due to illness or mental deficiency, does not have the necessary discernment for the practice of the act;

III – if the agent is an ascendant, stepparent, stepmother, brother, stepchild, spouse, companion, guardian or curator, preceptor or employer of the victim, or has assumed, by law or otherwise, an obligation of care, protection or vigilance; Or

IV – there is violence, serious threat or fraud.

§ 3 If the crime is committed in order to obtain economic advantage also applies fine.

Article 231-A Internal trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation

Promote or facilitate the displacement of someone within the national territory for the exercise of prostitution or other sexual exploitation:

Penalty – confinement, from 2 (two) to 6 (six) years.

  • 1 The same penalty who tout, solicit, buy or sell the trafficked person as well as being aware of this condition, transporting it, move it or alojála.
  • 2 The penalty is increased by half if:

I – the victim is under 18 (eighteen) years;

II – the victim, due to illness or mental deficiency, does not have the necessary discernment for the practice of the act;

III – if the agent is an ascendant, stepparent, stepmother, brother, stepchild, spouse, companion, guardian or curator, preceptor or employer of the victim, or has assumed, by law or otherwise, an obligation of care, protection or vigilance; Or

IV – there is violence, serious threat or fraud.

Penal Code 1940 (PDF)

LAW NO 13.344 OF 2016 (ANTI-TRAFFICKING LAW)

Art. 2

Confronting trafficking in persons shall comply with the following principles:

I – respect for the dignity of the human person;

II – promotion and guarantee of citizenship and human rights;

III – universality, indivisibility and interdependence;

IV – non-discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, origin,

nationality, professional activity, race, religion, age group, migratory status or other status;

V – transversality of the dimensions of gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, origin, race and age in public policies;

VI – full attention to direct and indirect victims, regardless of nationality and collaboration in investigations or legal proceedings;

VII – full protection of children and adolescents.

Law no. 13.344 of October 6 2016 (PDF)

CONSTITUTION 1988 (REV. 2015)         

Art 226

The family, which is the foundation of society, shall enjoy special protection from the State.

1°. Marriage is civil, and the marriage ceremony is free of charge.

2°. Religious marriage has civil effects, as provided by law.

3°. For purposes of State protection, a stable union between a man and a woman is recognized as a family unit, and the law shall facilitate conversion of such unions into marriage.

4°. The community formed by either parent and his or her descendants is also considered a family unit.

5°. The rights and duties of the conjugal society shall be exercised equally by men and women.

6°. A civil marriage may be dissolved by divorce.

7°. Based upon the principles of human dignity and responsible parenthood, couples are free to decide on family planning; it is incumbent upon the State to provide educational and scientific resources for the exercise of this right, prohibiting any coercion on the part of official or private institutions.

8°. The State shall assure assistance to the family in the person of each of its members and shall create mechanisms to suppress violence within the family.

 

Constitution of Brazil 1988 (Rev.2017) – Constitute Project – English (PDF)

 

Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil 1988 – NATLEX – Portugese (PDF)

PENAL CODE 1940, AMENDED 2019

Art. 149-A Trafficking in Persons

(Introduced by Law No 13.344 of October 6 2016)

By means of serious threat, violence, coercion, fraud or abuse, for the purpose of:

I – removing organs, tissues or parts of the body;

II – submitting it to work under conditions analogous to slavery;

III – submit it to any type of servitude;

IV – illegal adoption; Or

V – sexual exploitation.

Penalty – imprisonment, from 4 (four) to 8 (eight) years, and fine.

Paragraph 1. The penalty shall be increased by one-third to one-half if:

I – the crime is committed by a civil servant in the exercise of his functions or on the pretext of exercising them;

II – the crime is committed against a child, adolescent or elderly person or with a disability;

III – the agent prevails in relations of kinship, domestic relations, cohabitation, hospitality, economic dependence, authority or hierarchical superiority inherent in the exercise of employment, position or function; Or

IV – the victim of trafficking in persons is removed from the national territory.

Paragraph 2. The penalty is reduced from one to two thirds if the agent is primary and does not integrate criminal organization.

TITLE VII OF CRIMES AGAINST THE FAMILY

CHAPTER IOF CRIMES AGAINST MARRIAGE

Inducement to essential error and concealment of impediment

Art. 236 – Contracting a marriage, inducing the other contracting party into an essential error, or concealing an impediment that do not be a previous marriage:

Penalty – detention, from six months to two years.

Sole paragraph – The criminal action depends on the complaint of the deceived contractor and cannot be brought until after to finalize the sentence that, due to error or impediment, annul the marriage.

Prior knowledge of impediment

Art. 237 – Getting married, knowing the existence of an impediment that causes absolute nullity:

Penalty – imprisonment, from three months to one year.

Wedding simulation

Art. 239 – Simulating marriage through someone else’s mistake:

Penalty – imprisonment, from one to three years, if the fact does not constitute an element of a more serious crime.

Penal Code 2017 – SHERLOC – Portugese (PDF)

CIVIL CODE LAW NO. 10406 OF 2002, AS AMENDED 2019

Art. 3

The Minors under 16 are absolutely incapable of personally performing the acts of civil life (sixteen years.

Art. 5

Minority ceases at the age of eighteen, when the person is qualified to practice all acts of life civil.

Single paragraph. Disability will cease for minors:

I – by the concession of the parents, or one of them in the absence of the other, by means of a public instrument, regardless of judicial homologation, or by judgment of the judge, after hearing the guardian, if the minor is sixteen years old;

II – by marriage;

III – for the exercise of effective public employment;

IV – for the graduation of a degree in a higher education course;

V – by civil or commercial establishment, or by the existence of an employment relationship, provided that, depending on them, the minor at the age of sixteen, they have their own savings

Art. 1.511. Marriage establishes a life-long communion, based on equal rights and duties of the spouses.

Art. 1.512. Marriage is civil and free to celebrate.

Single paragraph. Qualification for marriage, registration and first certificate will be exempt from stamps, fees and costs, for people whose poverty is declared, under the penalties of the law

Art. 1.517. Sixteen-year-old men and women can marry, requiring authorization from both parents or their parents legal representatives, until the age of civilian majority is reached.

Single paragraph. If there is disagreement between the parents, the provisions of the sole paragraph of art. 1,631.

Art. 1.518. Until the celebration of the marriage, parents or guardians may revoke the authorization. (Wording given by Law No. 13,146,2015) (Effective)

Art. 1,519. Denial of consent, when unfair, can be met by the judge.

Art. 1,520. In any case, the marriage of those who have not reached the nubile age will not be allowed, observing the provided for in art. 1,517 of this Code. (Wording given by Law No. 13,811, of 2019)

Art. 1.548. The contracted marriage is null:

I – (Repealed) ;(Wording given by Law No. 13,146, 2015) (Effective)

II – for breach of impediment.

Art. 1.549. The decree of nullity of marriage, for the reasons foreseen in the previous article, can be promoted through direct action, by any interested party, or by the Public Ministry.

Art. 1,550. Marriage is voidable:

I – those who have not reached the minimum age to marry;

II – the minor of nubile age, when not authorized by his legal representative;

III – for defect of will, under the terms of arts. 1,556 to 1,558;

IV – the incapable of consenting or manifesting, in an unequivocal manner, consent;

V – carried out by the agent, without him or the other contractor knowing about the revocation of the mandate, and not cohabitation between spouses;

VI – due to the incompetence of the celebrating authority.

1. The invalidity of the judicially decreed mandate is equivalent to the revocation. (Wording given by Law No. 13,146, of 2015) (Effective)

2 The person with mental or intellectual disability at Nubian age may contract marriage, expressing his will directly or through your guardian or curator. (Included by Law No. 13,146, 2015) (Effective)

Art. 1,551. For reasons of age, the marriage resulting in pregnancy will not be annulled.

Art. 1,552. Annulment of the marriage of minors under sixteen will be required:

I – by the minor spouse himself;

II – by their legal representatives;

III – by their ancestors.

Art. 1,553. The minor who has not reached the nubile age may, after completing it, confirm his marriage, with the authorization of their legal representatives, if necessary, or with judicial supply.

Art. 1,555. The marriage of a minor of nubile age, when not authorized by his legal representative, can only be annulled if the action is filed in one hundred and eighty days, at the initiative of the incapacitated, when it ceases to be so, its legal representatives or your necessary heirs.

1 The period established in this article will be counted from the day on which the incapacity ceased, in the first case; from the marriage, in the second; and, in the third, the death of the incapacitated.

2 The marriage will not be annulled when the legal representative of the incapacitated person attended its celebration, or have, by any means, expressed their approval.

Art. 1,558. Marriage is void by virtue of coercion, when the consent of one or both spouses has been captured by a well-founded fear of considerable and imminent harm to life, health and honor, yours or your family members.

Art. 1,559. Only the spouse who made an error, or suffered coercion, can demand the annulment of the marriage; but cohabitation, if there is knowledge of the addiction, the act is valid, except for the hypotheses of items III and IV of art. 1,557.

Art. 1,560. The time limit for bringing the marriage annulment action, starting from the date of the celebration, is:

I – one hundred and eighty days, in the case of item IV of art. 1,550;

II – two years, if the celebrating authority is incompetent;

III – three years, in the cases of items I to IV of art. 1,557;

IV – four years, if there is coercion.

1 The right to annul the marriage of minors under sixteen years of age is extinguished in one hundred and eighty days, for the youngest of the day he reached that age; and the date of the wedding, for their legal representatives or ancestors.

2 In the event of item V of art. 1,550, the period for marriage annulment is one hundred and eighty days, from the date that the principal is aware of the celebration.