Brazil State Law Against Sexist Advertising

(Reviewed by Valdir Rocha)

The State Law of Rio de Janeiro, Law No. 7,835, published in the local official gazette on January 10, 2018, imposes penalties for companies headquartered in the State of Rio de Janeiro which use/hire advertising considered to be misogynist, sexist or to stimulate violence against women, based on the justification that the media would commonly present women in a submissive, sexist, despised or belittled position.

For the purposes of this law, any advertising containing image, word and/or audio which exhibits, discloses and/or encourages sexual or physical violence against women, misogyny and/or sexism shall be punishable by fine and suspension of the advertising.

The fine shall be calculated according to the type of the communication media used - printed, sound, television and/or social media. The amount of the fine may vary from R$33.000,00 (approximately US$10,000.00) to R$658.000,00 (approximately US$200,000.00) and it will be cumulative, if more than one type of media is used. The collected amount will be allocated to the Special Fund of Women's Rights.

Any individual or corporation may submit a complaint to the State Department for Human Rights and Policies for Women and the Elderly, which shall form a...