The Maria da Penha Law was created to protect the rights of women in situation of violence and its application depends on some requirements, given that not all violence is based on gender. However, in the moment to enforce the law and verify the requirements, judges’ perceptions about gender – and the usage of the word as well – makes them, occasionally, decline cases that should be framed by Maria da Penha Law
and judged by a Domestic Violence Court. Through an analysis of rulings pronounced by the Court of Appeals of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, was possible to verify that the concept of the word gender harms the processing of cases that should be framed by the specific law, excluding some women of the scope of the law. Therefore, this article attempted to understand the perceptions about gender in the rulings of the Court of Appeals of the State of Rio Grande do Sul and their legal implications.