Hunger, sexual violence, and death among children and adolescents are increasing under Bolsonaro.
Amidst a budget cut from R$203 million to R$54 million between 2018 and 2022, there was also an increase in suicides and a drop in vaccination coverage.
By Cida de Oliveira, from Current Brazil Network - The technical subgroup on Children and Adolescents of Transition Cabinet identified that hunger, sexual violence and death increased in this age group during Jair Bolsonaro's government. A setback never before documented in living conditions and the guarantee of rights, especially for black, indigenous and disabled children and adolescents, "victims of violence and in street situations, child labor, among other forms of vulnerability", according to a passage from a report presented this Friday (16).
What we see is an increase in the population aged 0 to 18 living in poverty and extreme poverty. Children and adolescents who are starving or experiencing food insecurity. Sexual violence, especially against girls, is skyrocketing. Violent deaths and deaths by firearms disproportionately affect Black children and adolescents. And if all this weren't enough, the number of suicides is also increasing.
To make matters worse, there is a sharp drop in vaccination coverage, bringing back the real risk of outbreaks of diseases that were once eradicated, such as polio, which despite its name affects people of all ages. And there is a much larger number of children and adolescents out of school.
Other dangers besides sexual violence
“Another point of concern is the absence of a diagnosis and a public policy for the care of children and adolescents in situations of orphanhood, a group that has increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “It is a quite devastating scenario regarding the protection of children and adolescents in Brazil. Given this, the challenges are, in fact, enormous,” said the lawyer and coordinator of the working group, Ariel de Castro Alves, who is being considered for the position of National Secretary for the Rights of Children and Adolescents in the Ministry of Human Rights.
In its analysis, which will support the work of aides in the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the group also observed an increase in sexual violence, especially among...
Furthermore, the working group cited budget cuts, program discontinuation, restrictions on public participation, and a data blackout. In other words, the number of children living on the streets, among other things, is unknown. Amidst this dismantling, for example, the Intersectoral Commission for Combating Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents and the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (Consea) were eliminated.
Bolsonaro promised and then tore up the ECA (Statute of Children and Adolescents).
The area has suffered successive budget cuts in recent years, a drop from R$ 203 million in 2018 to R$ 54 million in 2022. The forecast for 2023 is even worse: only R$ 42 million. According to the working group, the values updated by the Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA) reveal that the authorized allocation in 2022 corresponded to only 31,5% of the allocation authorized in 2018. The minimum amount necessary for the execution of the policy for 2023 is R$ 324.547.623, according to the group.
In 2018, Bolsonaro promised to tear up the ECA (Child and Adolescent StatuteAnd, in fact, his government did just that. It ended the Child Labor Eradication Program and reduced resources allocated to the protection of children and adolescents,” concludes the coordinator of the working group.
The magnitude of the danger posed to children and adolescents
- At the beginning of 2020, 40% of children and adolescents in Brazil lived in monetary poverty, a rate that was 20% among adults.
- 25,7% of families with three or more people under the age of 18 were experiencing hunger in 2022, a figure that drops to 13,5% in families with only adults.
- 80% of intentional violent deaths of children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 that occurred between 2016 and 2020 were of Black people.
- Of the 35.735 victims of rape cases involving vulnerable individuals registered in 2021, they were girls up to 13 years old.
- Approximately 130 Brazilian children and teenagers had been orphaned due to COVID-19 by July 2021.
- More than a third of those who disappear in Brazil are children and teenagers up to 17 years old. In that age group, there are currently 30 missing persons.
- Between 2016 and 2021, the number of suicides increased by 45% among 11- to 14-year-olds and by 49,3% among 15- to 19-year-olds.