President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) sanctioned a law on Monday (15) that defines the crime of bullying, including virtual bullying, and categorizes a series of acts against minors under 18 as heinous crimes.
The project was approved in Congress in December and establishes the National Policy for the Prevention and Combat of Child and Adolescent Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, to be carried out through a national plan, reviewed every ten years, with goals and strategic actions. The sanction was published in the Official Gazette of the Union this Monday. Bullying and cyberbullying (when it occurs online) are now defined by law as acts of "intimidation, humiliation, or discrimination" carried out "systematically, individually, or in a group, through physical or psychological violence," verbally, morally, sexually, socially, psychologically, physically, materially, or virtually.
The crimes are now part of the Penal Code, with a fine. In the case of cyberbullying, it can also lead to up to four years in prison.
There is also a provision for an increase in the penalty for two crimes already provided for in the Penal Code. In the case of the homicide of a person under 14 years of age, the current penalty is 12 to 30 years of imprisonment. Now, it can be increased by two-thirds if committed in a public or private basic education school.