How does the link between the presence of women in parliament and the approval of gender equality bills work? To answer this question, I focused on the adoption process of the Maria da Penha Law at the National Congress in Brazil. Methodologically, I carried out a case study, analyzing documents and interviews. This enabled me to identify the mechanisms that contribute to articulate the descriptive and the substantive representation of women. These mechanisms include: the ability to translate the movements' demands into legal norms, the support of the executive branch, the constitution of majority coalitions within the legislative branch, the engagement of feminist movements in defending of the proposal, and the occupation of leadership positions within parliament by feminocrats .
