VICTIM TESTIMONY AND DECISION-MAKING LEGITIMACY UNDER THE MARIA DA PENHA LAW: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PROCEDURAL MODEL FOR ARTICLE 16 HEARINGS

Abstract

This article critically examines the centrality attributed to victim testimony in domestic violence proceedings, with particular focus on the hearing provided for under Article 16 of Brazilian Law No. 11.340/2006 (Maria da Penha Law). It advances the hypothesis that tensions surrounding the withdrawal of representation arise not merely from evidentiary issues but from the procedural design governing institutional listening and the evaluation of victim statements. The study adopts a qualitative approach, combining doctrinal and bibliographical review, normative analysis, and critical examination of leading case law from Brazilian superior courts, especially the Supreme Federal Court. It argues that the effectiveness of legal protection depends less on the abstract weight assigned to victim narratives and more on the institutional quality of procedural mechanisms that render such narratives legally intelligible. he study then proposes an interdisciplinary procedural model, building on this framework, grounded in qualified listening, contextual assessment of voluntariness, and enhanced judicial reasoning. The findings demonstrate that reconfiguring the procedural structure of Article 16 hearings can reconcile individual autonomy, state protection, and fundamental procedural guarantees, fostering more proportional and institutionally legitimate judicial outcomes.