Imagine the following scenario: a woman who suffers violence, physical or psychological, gathers courage and decides to seek help. She opens her phone and types into Google Maps “Delegacia da Mulher,” copies the address and goes to the place. Upon arriving there, she finds an abandoned house, falling to pieces and used by drug users.

That symbolic scene was reality in Curitiba starting in 2017, when the building of the former Delegacia da Mulher, located at Rua Padre Antônio, 33, was decommissioned. The services that were available in that space began to be offered elsewhere, at the Casa da Mulher, which is in the Cabral neighborhood. However, the address of the former Delegacia da Mulher was still on official channels and on the internet.

In 2025, after eight years of the property being abandoned, a collective of women chose to change that. The Olga Benário Movement occupied that space on the International Day of Black, Latin American and Caribbean Women, July 25. The occupation transformed the place, which is next to the Colégio Estadual do Paraná, into the Casa Enedina Marques, a 24-hour reference center for women.

Gabriela Torres, an activist of the Olga Benário Movement, summarizes the activities of the place: “A reference house is a place where a woman goes to receive care and support from a professional in the area she needs, whether a social worker, psychologist, or lawyer.”

The National Survey on Violence against Women, conducted by DataSenado, shows in its 10th edition that 35% of women in Paraná have already suffered some type of domestic or family violence perpetrated by a man. Since the start of Casa Enedina Marques’s activities, in July 2025, 78 women have already sought help and were taken in at the occupation. In two years of activity in Curitiba, the Olga Benário Movement has already welcomed more than 180 women.

The professionals who work at Casa Enedina Marques are volunteer social workers, psychologists, and lawyers who sympathize with the cause. To provide 24-hour care, the activists organize themselves in shifts, in case women seek support in situations of abuse or violence.

For the safety of the women served, the occupation does not function as a shelter — a place where women whose physical integrity is at risk can stay. When that is the case, the volunteers refer the situation to the organization “Beleza Escondida,” which works to protect women and their children through protective homes, insertion into the world of work, social and psychological support, among other activities.

Torres states that Casa Enedina Marques has strong dialogue with institutions such as Casa da Mulher Brasileira, CRAS, and CREAS. The organization does not have government support and depends on donations, contributions, and mainly on the sale of clothing at the bazaar that operates on the premises. The bazaar runs every day, but the highest traffic is on Saturdays and Sundays.

“A large portion of the women, in fact, come because of the bazaar, they come because there is the jar-cake workshop, a course on Marxism, and they begin to understand that they are in a situation of violence afterward”, Torres comments.

Besides the bazaar, the house promotes various workshops and trainings, such as the printmaking workshop that took place in November 2025 and dance and capoeira classes, which are frequent. The activities are publicized on the house’s Instagram account (@casaenedinamarques.)

How to ask for help?

In case of emergency, when there is a need for immediate intervention, call 190. In cases of violence against girls and women that does not require immediate intervention, dial 180.

The Casa da Mulher Brasileira in Curitiba has reception and a Delegacia da Mulher 24 hours a day. The address is Avenida Paraná, no. 870 – Cabral neighborhood. Phones: (41) 3221-2701 and (41) 3221-2710.

There are civil society organizations, such as Casa Enedina Marques, that offer shelter, access to health professionals specialized in gender-based violence, and access to therapists who work free of charge.

The Mapa do Acolhimento offers direct support to women survivors of violence, connecting them with a national network of volunteer psychologists and lawyers. There are volunteers in all Brazilian states.