Girls aged up to 13 main rape victims in Brazil

A document dubbed 13th Brazilian Yearbook on Public Security, published Tuesday (Sep 10) reports a record rise in sexual violence. The country a total of 66 thousand victims of rape in Brazil in 2018, the highest number since the study started being conducted, in 2007. Most victims (53.8%) were girls aged up to 13.

Four girls in this age group are reported to be raped every hour in Brazil, where an average of 180 rapes took place in Brazil, 4.1 percent higher than 2017.

Cristina Neme, researcher with the Brazilian Public Security Forum, in charge of the yearbook, “attackers are usually someone close to the victim, often a relative,” like their father, grandfather, stepfather, the yearbook says.

In Neme’s view, figures indicate that “there is something structural about this phenomenon.” Change in behavior, she argued, depends on sexual education campaigns, and the damage requires more assistance for both victims and their families.

Of every ten rapes, eight take place against girls and women and two against boys and men. Most women assaulted are black (50.9%).

Femicide

In addition to the surge in sexual violence, the report shows an increase in the number of women killed due to their gender—femicide.

In 2018, 1,206 women fell victims to femicide, up four percent from the previous year. Of every ten women killed, six were black. Victims are well distributed across different age groups—28.2 percent are aged 20–29, 29.8 percent are 30–39 years old, and 19.5 percent are aged 40–49. Nine out of every ten such killers were their female victims’ partners or ex-partners.