Word: belo
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...mountainous southeastern state of Minas Gerais is commonly known as the terra dos machoes, or land of the machos. "Here, if a man sleeps around with other women, it's a sign of masculinity," says Elaine Matozinho, a policewoman in Belo Horizonte. "But if a woman is an adulteress, it's a different story: she pays with her life...
...past 20 years, the murder or beating of women by their husbands or boyfriends was so common an occurrence that legitima defesa da honra (legitimate defense of honor) became a popular and tolerated legal defense. National murder statistics are not tracked by sex, but according to Matozinho, in Belo Horizonte (pop. 1.5 million) 24 women are killed each year by husbands or boyfriends. Many more cases go unreported. Most of the assailants are never convicted. "Regardless of the real reasons she was killed, the man's defense is always the same: she was seeing somebody else," says Matozinho...