In Brazil, a woman is a victim of violence every four hours

The bulletin Elas Vivem: data that do not shut up, released this Monday (06) by the Security Observatories Network, recorded 2,423 cases of violence against women in 2022, 495 of them feminicides. São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have the most worrying numbers, concentrating almost 60% of the total cases. This was the third edition of the survey carried out in seven states: Bahia, Ceará, Pernambuco, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Maranhão and Piauí, the last two being monitored for the first time. Data are produced from daily monitoring of what circulates in the media and social networks about violence and security. The information collected feeds a database that is later reviewed and consolidated by the network. The state of São Paulo recorded 898 cases of violence, one every 10 hours, while Rio de Janeiro had a 45% increase in cases, with a woman victim of violence every 17 hours. Furthermore, cases of sexual violence practically doubled, going from 39 to 75 in Rio de Janeiro. Bahia showed a 58% increase in cases of violence, with at least one per day, and leads the way in femicide in the Northeast, with 91 occurrences. Maranhão is the second in the region in cases of aggression and attempted femicide. Pernambuco, on the other hand, leads in violence against women and Ceará ceased to lead in numbers of transfemicide, but had a rise in cases of sexual violence. Piauí recorded 48 cases of femicide. Most of the records in the states that are part of the monitoring have partners and ex-partners of the victims as perpetrators of the violence. They are responsible for 75% of cases of femicide, with the main motivations being fights and relationship breakups. Public policies The report highlights that, with data from the Security Observatories Network, governments can create public policies to prevent violence and preserve lives. In an interview with Agência Brasil, the Network’s coordinator in Pernambuco, Edna Jatobá, spokeswoman for the organization, sees as hypotheses for the growth of violence against women in Rio de Janeiro, the increase in circulation and ease of acquisition of weapons, the deepening of the post-pandemic economic and social crisis, which led to an increase in domestic violence. “The state of RJ has not been able to provide protection to women and their families, threatened with death, and carrying out an exhaustive investigation to identify the perpetrators and their motivations ends up stimulating new violent actions”. She also cites the lack and dismantling of shelter networks as the cause of the reiteration of this violence. “The growth takes place as a whole, with cases of great national repercussion, such as the case of the rape of a woman in labor by an anesthetist and cases of political violence, and that, therefore, there is no way to determine a specific cause .” Regarding the spread and growth of attacks on women through digital means, Edna Jatobá states that “this has always had an impact on the increase in daily violence against women, due to the freedom of retrograde ideas to contaminate a greater number of people”. She also points out that it is necessary to control the availability of information, especially regarding the dissemination of prejudice and the naturalization of violence against women, which have become the main pillars for the growth of attacks and violence each year. “We want the internet not to be a lawless land, especially with regard to the protection of women, there were many achievements related to harassment and persecution, but there is still a lot of work to be done and a lot of violence to be curbed in the digital environment.” With regard to the bill being discussed in the Senate, which foresees criminalizing misogyny, equating the posture with racism, homophobia and transphobia, the researcher says that, in addition, “it is necessary to strengthen the struggles that already exist and that are not fully enforced”. Edna Jatobá proposes strengthening the existing justice system, working with prevention and protection actions for women victims of violence. “I am not against the creation of this law, but the focus has to be the victim, who has to be protected, and not just the punishment of the aggressor”, emphasizes the researcher. *Intern under the supervision of Akemi Nitahara

Agência Brasil