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Trigger warning: graphic descriptions of rape<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Mari Ferrer was once known as the Brazilian Kylie Jenner. A lifestyle and beauty influencer from Southern Brazil, she had landed a gig in a beach club in Florian\u00f3polis in late 2018\u2014as a \u201csocial ambassador,\u201d her job was to post about the club, the food, music, and attend parties with her guests. Not long after she was hired, Mari was drugged, taken to a secluded location, and raped by Andr\u00e9 Camargo de Aranha, one of the bar\u2019s associates.<\/p>\n The case first gained attention when the story was shared on a Twitter thread in Portuguese in January of 2019 (read the thread in English here<\/a>). It includes heartbreaking footage from the night of the rape, including text messages Mariana sends to friends she was with, begging for them to come pick her up. Their responses are nonchalant: \u201cour dinner just got here,\u201d \u201cwe\u2019ll talk tomorrow.\u201d She also calls her mother, sobbing, asking for her father, and saying, \u201cnobody is really your friend.\u201d According to the thread, after getting home, clearly out of it, her mother takes her to the hospital, where the infamous \u2018rape kit\u2019 is collected. She is injured and bleeding, and the rapist\u2019s semen is found in her underwear.<\/p>\n Armed with evidence, Mariana goes to court, not once, but twice. The first time, her rapist is considered innocent because \u201cthere was no intent to rape.\u201d Video footage<\/a> from the Zoom trial goes viral, and in it, the defense lawyer, Cl\u00e1udio Gast\u00e3o, is seen verbally harassing the victim: \u201cdon\u2019t come at me with these crocodile tears,\u201d thank God I don\u2019t have a daughter like you, and I ask God that my son doesn\u2019t find a woman like you.\u201d Among the evidence used by the defense are sensual pictures of Mariana, some edited<\/a> to make her look more \u2018vulgar.\u2019<\/p>\n The trial footage garnered attention from the entire country, from celebrities to Brazilian former president Fernando Collor<\/a>. A petition<\/a> asking Gast\u00e3o to be held accountable gathered over 4 million signatures. UN Women Brazil also released a statement<\/a> in support of Mariana and against sexual violence against women. The National Justice Council opened an investigation<\/a> on Gast\u00e3o\u2019s behavior. This is a repeated offense for him\u2014Sandra Bronzina became a survivor at 13, and at 29, she shared<\/a> her experience being harassed by Gast\u00e3o when her rapist was on trial. Damares Alves, the Minister of Women and Human Rights, in a radio interview<\/a>, condemned the defense lawyer\u2019s behavior and stated that this type of behavior from the courts \u201cis not normal.\u201d<\/p>\n Mariana appealed. The newest decision, released in October of 2021, is that her rapist is, once again, innocent. According to the courts, there was a \u201clack of evidence\u201d to support her claims that she had been raped.<\/p>\n Since she was raped, Mariana has dedicated her life to looking for justice. Her social media accounts have turned into a journal of her struggle, where she shares details from the shambles her life has become. She begs audiences to share her case with the public and receives a lot of support from sympathetic voices. However, there is also significant backlash. From the start, she has been painted as a liar, not only by her rapist, but also countless others who care to weigh in on the situation online. She routinely receives hate comments and death threats<\/a>. Needless to say, her life and mental health have been destroyed.<\/p>\n