Brazil Witnessed Record-High Sexual Violence Against Women and Children in 2022: Report

Brazil recorded a disturbing increase in sexual violence against women and children, 8.2 percent surge to an all-time high of 74,930 in 2022. The Brazilian Public Security Forum revealed that rape cases among minors grew 15.3 percent. 

Samira Bueno, the Forum’s executive director, said Brazil has become more violent for children, adolescents and women in general. She highlighted that all the crimes take place at home. The report noted that all types of violence, including child maltreatment (up 13.8 percent); child and youth pornography (7 percent); and sexual exploitation (16.4 percent), against minors increased. “It would be hard to present a worse scenario in relation to violence against children and adolescents than that which emerged in 2022.” 

The increase reflects the effects of the COVID-19 driven lockdowns and school closures, which left children more vulnerable to abuse at home and without the support network schools often provide in catching abuse early. 

Bueno pointed out that violence against women exploded in 2022, the final year of the Jair Bolsonaro government that oversaw a string of setbacks to the gender rights agenda. “It picked the gender debate as an enemy that must be defeated.” She said Bolsonaro’s misogynistic discourse trickled down into both public policy and people’s behavior with an ultimately harmful impact on women’s lives. The report said Brazil’s domestic violence hotline received an average of 102 calls an hour in 2022 amid an increase in domestic attacks and threats, while femicides grew 6.1 percent. Around three-quarters of femicide victims were killed inside their own home and by their current or former partner. 

Marisa Sanematsu, from Patricia Galvao institute, believed more victims were speaking out amid a growing awareness of legal protections and increasing intolerance of behavior such as sexual harassment. She described the numbers as a warning that should raise awareness in society – a problem that must be confronted.