Thiago Mendes (Instituto Pacs) traces the life story of Maria da Penha Macena, a resident of Vila Autódromo who became one of the most visible faces of the resistance against forced evictions in Rio de Janeiro. Published on the symbolic date of her home’s demolition — March 8, 2016, International Women’s Day — the text follows Penha’s trajectory from her childhood in Itabaiana (Paraíba) to the wooden shacks of Rocinha and, finally, to the house she built with her own hands beside what would become the Olympic Park. The author recounts the brutal episode of June 3, 2015, when municipal police, authorized by a judicial order, injured Penha during the demolition of a neighbor’s house, and weaves her personal determination together with the structural violation of her right to housing endured over more than two decades.

Para acessar o texto em português, clique aqui.

This text was originally published on PACS’s Medium and subsequently made available as a PDF for public access in the library’s digital archive.

Login