8 women raped every hour in Brazil last year – report

Brazil recorded more than eight rapes per hour on average in 2022, a record number, with more than 60 percent of victims younger than 14, according to an NGO report Thursday.

The Brazilian Forum of Public Security (FBSP) said 74,930 rapes were reported in the country of some 200 million people last year – an increase of 8.2 percent from 2021.

More than 10 percent of victims were younger than four, according to data compiled from police registers and other official documents.

Nearly 70 percent of rapes happened at the victims’ homes.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, schools remained closed for a long time and victims were confined with their attackers. With the reopening of schools, the number of complaints increased,” said FBSP coordinator Juliana Martins.

“A large number of rapes are not reported, so it is very possible that the situation is even worse than the data shows,” she told AFP.

The NGO said there were 1,437 femicides in 2022, an increase of 6.1 percent from 2021, and 245,713 cases of spousal violence, up 2.9 percent.