Brazil’s rape culture in numbers

The mass rape of a 16-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro earlier this week has shocked Brazil.

Videos and pictures of the crime were widely shared on social media before the victim could notify the police, including photos of the teenager bleeding with comments of celebration by the rapists.

No one has been charged yet and the police officer leading the investigation has reportedly asked the teenager if she “is used to group sex”.

The crime has caused an outpouring on social media, with human rights campaigners arguing on whether there is a rape culture in Brazil.

This Is Why Everyone In Brazil Is Talking About Rape Culture https://t.co/7OjKhW3ECr

— crop top enthusiast (@trashlady17) May 28, 2016

In a poll by Brazilian Forum for Public Security last October, nine in every ten women surveyed said they were afraid of sexual violence. The most frightened were black female, with 70 percent saying they were scared they could be sexually attacked.   

According to official figures, there were over 47,000 cases of rape in Brazil in 2014 alone, one in every 11 minutes. But the total number could be much higher. According to estimates by Ipea, a government-led think-tank, only 10 percent of the attacks are reported to the police.

The worse figure is from Roraima, Brazil’s northernmost state, where a rate of 55,5 cases has been reported in every 100,000 people. The figure is twice higher than the national average.

In the map below the reported cases are distributed by state. The darkest the colour, the highest the rate of attacks. Click here for the interactive version and find out rates and total number of cases per state:

Children and teenagers

Figures from Violence Map show that the rate of cases involving those under 19 are much higher than of sexual attacks involving adults.

Cases against young people in locations such as Acre is almost three times higher than the national average.

A sample of 12,087 cases only collected in 2011 by the Health Ministry showed that 70 percent of the assaults were against children or teenagers, according to a report by Ipea. Half of the victims were under 13.

Bills in Congress could make health care harder for victims

A new bill by conservative lawmakers could make even harder for rape victims to receive health care after assaults.

A new legislation presented last year by former Lower House speaker Eduardo Cunha aims to change the current law that allow legal abortion to women who have been raped. Brazil already has one of the toughest legislation restricting the procedure.

https://twitter.com/sivavaid/status/715872835189678081

If the new rules are passed, women would need to prove they have been raped even before they could get the after pill in public hospitals. Abortion penalties are also set to increase.