More than 18 million women suffered violence in 2022.
On average, victims reported having suffered four assaults in a year.
Brazil Agency - Another year in which violence against Brazilian women has been on the rise in the country. This is shown by the fourth edition of the research "Visible and Invisible: The Victimization of Women in Brazil." Conducted by the Brazilian Forum on Public Security, the survey estimates that approximately 18,6 million Brazilian women were victimized in 2022, equivalent to a football stadium with a capacity of 50 people filled every day. On average, women who were victims of violence reported having suffered four assaults throughout the year, but among divorced women the average was nine times.
The research presents unprecedented data on different forms of physical, sexual, and psychological violence suffered by Brazilian women last year. Compared to previous editions, all forms of violence against women showed a marked increase last year. According to the survey, 28,9% of Brazilian women suffered some type of gender-based violence in 2022, the highest prevalence ever recorded in the historical series, 4,5 percentage points higher than the result of the previous survey.
"All the research data is truly quite sad, but when we look at the violence suffered by women in Brazil, compared to previous research we've done, all forms of violence have increased significantly in the last year. So women are suffering more and more violence. There's a 4 percentage point increase in the number of women who suffered some type of violence or aggression in the last year, compared to the previous survey. This is quite shocking data," laments Amanda Lagreca, a researcher at the Brazilian Forum on Public Security.
The survey interviewed 2.017 people, including men and women, in 126 Brazilian municipalities, from January 9 to 13, 2023, and was carried out by Instituto Datafolha and with support from Uber.
Data on femicides and intentional homicides of women for the year 2022 are not yet available, but the sharp increase in serious forms of physical violence, which can result in death at any moment, is a sign, says the executive director of the Brazilian Forum on Public Security, Samira Bueno. “It will not be surprising if we see an increase in both types of lethal violence against women. Unfortunately, Brazil has become more unsafe for all of us.”
The research results showed that 11,6% of the women interviewed were victims of physical violence last year, representing approximately 7,4 million Brazilian women. This means that 14 women were assaulted with slaps, punches, and kicks every minute.
Among the other forms of violence mentioned, the most frequent were verbal abuse (23,1%), stalking (13,5%), threats of physical violence (12,4%), sexual abuse (9%), beating or attempted strangulation (5,4%), threats with a knife or firearm (5,1%), injury caused by an object thrown at them (4,2%), and stabbing or shooting (1,6%).
The research revealed a groundbreaking statistic: one in three Brazilian women over the age of 16 has suffered physical and sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner during their lifetime. This represents more than 21,5 million women who have been victims of physical or sexual violence by intimate partners or former partners, accounting for 33,4% of the country's female population.
If we consider cases of psychological violence, 43% of Brazilian women have already been victims of an intimate partner. Black women, with low education, with children and divorced are the main victims, the research revealed.
“When we look at this figure of 33,4%, compared to the global average of the World Health Organization, of 27%, what we are seeing is that in Brazil this number is higher than the number one estimated by the WHO,” laments Amanda Lagreca.
According to the researcher, another shocking finding concerns the perpetrator of the violence. For the first time, the study identified the ex-partner as the main perpetrator of the violence (31,3%), followed by the current intimate partner (26,7%).
The perpetrator of the violence is known to the victim in most cases (73,7%). This shows that the least safe place for women is their own home – 53,8% reported that the most serious episode of aggression in the last 12 months happened at home. This number is higher than that recorded in the 2021 edition of the survey (48,8%), which covered the peak of social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other places where violence occurred were the street (17,6%), the workplace (4,7%), and bars or nightclubs (3,7%). Regarding their reaction to the violence, the majority (45%) of women said they did nothing. In previous surveys, in 2017 and 2019, this number was 52%.
The number of victims who went to a Women's Police Station increased compared to 2021, rising from 11,8% to 14% in 2022. Other forms of reporting were: calling the Military Police (4,8%), making a record electronic (1,7%) or contact the Women's Assistance Center via Dial 180 (1,6%).
Sexual harassment
The survey showed that 46,7% of Brazilian women suffered sexual harassment in 2022, an increase of almost 9 percentage points compared to 2021, when the prevalence of harassment was 37,9%.
Based on the research, it can be estimated that 30 million women reported having suffered some type of harassment; 26,3 million women heard catcalls and disrespectful comments on the street (41,0%) or in the workplace (18,6% - 11,9 million), were physically harassed on public transport (12,8%) or approached aggressively at a party (11,2%).