Lula Grants INSS Paid Leave to Violence Victims

Brazil · Politics

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed a measure guaranteeing up to six months of paid leave for women driven out of their jobs by domestic violence — funded by social security and granted on the strength of a protective order alone, two days before the country votes in the first round of a presidential election.

The National Congress in Brasilia. The leave entitlement has its roots in the Maria da Penha Law, passed by Congress in 2006.

What Lula Signed

The instrument signed on Thursday, 1 October, is a government legal opinion — a parecer — that folds a Supreme Court ruling into the rules of the federal administration. Its practical effect is simple: when a judge grants a woman a protective order that includes removal from her workplace, that judicial decision is by itself sufficient proof for the benefit to be paid. The INSS can no longer require the victim to undergo its own medical examination, a step that used to delay or even block the money.

Once the opinion is published it becomes binding on the federal public administration, which means bodies such as the INSS must follow it. The institute then has 15 days to issue the detailed regulation. The measure covers women in private employment and in the public service alike — anywhere a protective order under the Maria da Penha Law has removed them from their workplace for up to six months.

Who Pays What

The funding follows the model set by the Supreme Court. For women in formal employment, the employer pays the first 15 days of the leave; from day 16 the cost shifts to the INSS. For other women insured under the general social security regime — individual contributors, for instance — the institute pays from the first day, and no minimum contribution period can be demanded.

Women with no link to the social security system at all are not excluded: where a victim cannot sustain herself, the protection takes an assistance form and is funded by the public authorities under Brazil’s social assistance law. The INSS, for its part, can sue the aggressor to recover what it paid — a recourse action that falls to the federal courts.

The Legal Backdrop

The Maria da Penha Law of 2006, Brazil’s landmark statute against domestic violence, already allowed a judge to keep a victim away from her workplace for up to six months while preserving her job. What the law never settled was who pays for that period — and whether the money is a social security benefit or state assistance. The result was a protection that existed on paper but often failed in practice, leaving women to choose between their safety and their income.

In December 2025 the Supreme Court closed part of that gap. Ruling unanimously in a case of general repercussion — Theme 1370 — the court decided that the protective order under the Maria da Penha Law must guarantee not only the removal from the workplace but the maintenance of the woman’s income, and it defined the cost-sharing between employer, INSS and the state. State courts, it confirmed, have the power to determine the protective measure and to order the payments.

Yet the money still did not flow automatically. In practice women were sent back through the INSS’s own assessment machinery, which could include a medical examination and end in refusal — leaving victims to fight the institute in court. Thursday’s opinion removes that second gate: the protective order itself now unlocks the payment.

Why the Timing Matters

The signature comes on the eve of Sunday’s first-round presidential vote, in which Lula is running for re-election. Women’s rights and public safety have been central themes of his campaign, and a measure that converts a Supreme Court ruling into money in victims’ accounts fits squarely into that platform. Critics will note the electoral convenience of the timing.

Two things are true at once. The announcement is undeniably well-timed for a president seeking another term. And the measure is not an electioneering invention: it implements a unanimous Supreme Court decision handed down ten months ago, in a country that records some of the world’s highest rates of lethal violence against women. The administrative question — how fast the INSS regulates and pays — is what determines whether the promise outlives the campaign.

What We Could Not Confirm

The full text of the signed opinion had not been published at the time of writing, so the precise wording and any exceptions remain unverified. We could not confirm the government’s estimate of how many women will qualify or what the measure will cost the INSS and public assistance budgets. Whether state administrations will adopt the same understanding for their own employees, and how quickly the first payments will actually reach victims once the 15-day regulation window closes, remains to be seen.

More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Lula sign for domestic violence victims?

On 1 October 2026 President Lula signed a government opinion guaranteeing paid leave of up to six months for women removed from work by a judge’s protective order under the Maria da Penha Law. Once published, it is binding on the federal administration, and the INSS has 15 days to issue the implementing regulation.

Who pays for the six months of leave in Brazil?

For formally employed women the employer pays the first 15 days, after which the INSS takes over. Other insured women are paid by the INSS from day one, with no minimum contribution period. Victims with no social security link receive state-funded assistance instead.

Do victims still need an INSS medical assessment?

No. Under the new opinion the judge’s protective order is sufficient proof for the benefit, and the INSS can no longer demand its own medical examination before paying. That removes a step that previously delayed or blocked the money.