Brazil Broke Annual Rape Record in 2018: Over 66,000 Reported Cases

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil reached a record number of rape cases in 2018, with 66,041 registered assaults, while 53.8 percent of victims were up to 13 years old, according to data from the Brazilian Public Safety Forum, released yesterday, September 10th.

The figure is equal to an average of 180 sexual assaults per day, an increase of 4.1 percent over the previous year.

The Brazilian rape average in 2018 was 31.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, a number above the rate of violent deaths in the country, which reached an average of 27.5 per 100,000 inhabitants last year.

As for the victims’ profile, 81.8 percent are female, of which 50.9 percent are black and 48.5 percent are white.

Last year, four girls up to the age of 13 were raped per hour in Brazil.

According to the same data, 63.8 percent of the rapes reported to the police in the country were committed against the vulnerable – victims legally incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse, or when they are unable to offer resistance, whether due to disability, illness or being under the influence of drugs.

The survey also shows that 75.9 percent of sexual offenders are known to victims. Of the total number of rapes, 93.2 percent were single offenders and 6.8 percent were committed by more than one perpetrator. Men are the majority (96.3 percent) among the perpetrators.

Among other crimes that saw an increase in 2018 is racial abuse, with an increase of 20.6 percent in the number of recorded cases, compared to 2017. Last year, 7,616 occurrences were recorded.

Homicide against the LGBT population also saw a 10.1 percent increase in the country, according to Forum.

In contrast, Brazil recorded 57,341 murders last year, showing a 10.4 percent drop from the total of 64,021 violent deaths recorded in 2017. The reduction in the number of murders represents the end of a growth trend that had been observed since 2011 when 47,215 violent deaths were intentionally caused in the country including homicides and other crimes such as robbery and robbery-homicide (body injuries followed by death).

Although murder indicators have decreased, the report’s observation is that deaths caused by police officers increased by 19.7 percent, from 5,179 cases in 2017 to 6,220 cases recorded in 2018.

This means that one in every ten violent deaths in Brazil was caused by a police officer.

The data are part of the 13th Brazilian Annual Report on Public Safety, launched September 10th by the non-governmental organization Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública (“Brazilian Public Safety Forum”).

Source: Noticias ao Minuto