The criminalization of “stalking” and moral harassment in Brazil: a (almost) colmated gap

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to deal with an unprecedented crime and still very little dealt with by Brazilian doctrine and jurisprudence: the crime of persecution, referred to by foreign doctrine as stalking, and inserted by new Law 14.132/2021 in article 147-A of the Brazilian Penal Code. Therefore, the analysis starts from the existing legislative gap in relation to an important legal asset, already protected in other countries and still in need of protection by national legislation: the moral integrity of the human person, which concretizes the principle of respect for the dignity of the human person (art. 1º, III, CF) in criminal matters, and which was only found in the Torture Law (Law 9.455/1997) in Brazil. Starting from the concept and analysis of this very legal novel, the text highlights the main characteristics of moral harassment, as a general form of attack on the moral integrity of the human person, with particular emphasis on its reiteration or habituality. Another point worked on is the figure of cyberstalking as an especially serious form of moral harassment, enhanced by the computerized means of communication, although forgotten by the legislator in Law 14.132/2021. Finally, this article analyzes the type of the new article 147-A, saluting the legislative innovation, at the same time that it draws criticisms and repairs to the its wording, in order to contribute, albeit as prematurely as it is innovative, to the interpretation and application of this important new crime.