STF Justice Cristiano Zanin condemned a former Unifran medical student to pay collective moral damages for a sexual hazing incident against female freshmen in 2019. The ruling, issued on March 30, 2026, set the indemnity at 40 minimum wages, directed to the State Fund for the Defense of Diffuse Interests. Zanin overturned prior STJ and TJSP decisions, deeming the act psychological violence.
STF Justice Cristiano Zanin ruled that Matheus Gabriel Braia, a former senior medical student at Unifran in inland São Paulo, must pay collective moral damages for a 2019 hazing incident. Freshwomen were forced to recite phrases such as “I solemnly swear never to refuse a veteran’s attempt at coitus” and “from today I am single, at the disposal of my seniors”.
The March 30 decision overturned prior rulings: Judge Adriana Gatto Martins Bonemer dismissed the case at first instance, arguing the harm affected a limited group and criticizing feminism; the TJSP and STJ upheld it, despite acknowledging the act as “machista”, “discriminatory”, and “morally reprehensible”.
Zanin pointed to the case’s wide spread on social media and in the press, establishing collective harm. He described the hazing as psychological violence that reinforces gender inequalities and cannot be treated as a “joke”. The justice stated the STF has been called to “decide the obvious” in protecting women’s dignity, as per the Constitution.
Unifran opposed the hazing at the time. The indemnity will go to the State Fund for the Defense of Diffuse Interests, upholding the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s appeal.
