In 2022, 67,626 incidents of rape among women were recorded in Brazil. “This is equivalent to approximately one rape every 8 minutes in the country”, describes this year’s edition of the Annual Socioeconomic Report on Women (Raseam), launched today (24), in Brasília, by the Ministry of Women.
According to the document, the Southeast, the most populous region of the country, had the highest number of rape incidents, totaling 22,917 cases. Next was the South Region, with 14,812 occurrences. In the Northeast, 14,165 rapes were recorded; in the North, 8,060 cases; and in the Central-West, 7,672 episodes of this type of violence.
Raseam compiles research statistics and administrative records from different sources. Data on the rape of women, for example, comes from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The report also uses information produced by the Ministry of Health, Sports, Electoral Justice, National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep) and (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics I (BGE).
Data from different sources may be complementary. Regarding rape, the IBGE National Continuous Household Sample Survey suggests that the high occurrence of this form of violence against women is reflected in the perception of risk. One in five women interviewed in 2021 reported feeling “medium or high risk of being a victim of sexual assault.”
The report points out that “violence against women is a social institution, which functions as a mechanism that maintains social relations of domination and exploitation.” Data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (Sinan) of the Ministry of Health, counted in outpatient and hospital care, totaled 344,242 records of sexual, domestic and other forms of violence. Seven out of ten of these episodes occurred against women.
Aggression
Health statistics also reveal that the main location of aggression against adult women, aged 20 to 59, that year was their own home: 73% of episodes, compared to 14.5% of incidents on public roads and 3.2% % in bars and restaurants.
Regarding marital status, 44.7% of women victims of violence in the same age group were single; 42.4% were married; and 10.6% were single. Men were “the main aggressors of women” in Sinan records. “In 2022, in 77.2% of registered cases, the attackers were male”, reveals the document.
Black women
The 2022 Population Census found that the largest group in Brazil, across color and gender, is made up of black women (brown and black), 54.5%. They are also the group most exposed to sexual, domestic and other forms of violence. Health data show that, that year, 47.9% of victims were black and 11.9% were black – a total of 59.8%. More than 38% of the women attacked were white and almost 1% of them were indigenous.
The death rate from murder of women in 2022 was 3.2 cases per hundred thousand inhabitants. The age group most exposed to homicide are young women, aged 20 to 24 – 6.4 deaths per hundred thousand inhabitants. According to the Mortality Information System (Ministry of Health), 66.7% of the victims were black – 60.3% were mixed race; and 6.4% black. The total number of black women registered was more than double that of white women: 32%.
The Women’s Annual Socioeconomic Report contains 270 indicators across seven thematic axes. In addition to data relating to the thematic axis “coping with all forms of violence against women”, the study shows that black women face more adverse conditions than white women and men of all colors in other situations, such as in job market.
Female workforce
Almost 54% of white women and girls (14 years or older) participated in the job market in 2022, and among black or mixed-race women the rate was 51.3% (data from Pnad Contínua). The female labor force participation rate was 52.5%, while that of men was 71.9%.
The informality rate was higher among black or brown women and girls: 42.8% compared to 32.6% for white women and girls. As a consequence, work income also reveals discrepancies, according to the report from the Ministry of Women.
“Even when women are busy in the job market, inequalities appear in their lower pay. Women’s average hourly earnings were R$16 in the second quarter of 2022, below the estimated R$18 for men. White men earned an average of R$23 per hour, and white women, R$19. When comparing black or brown men and women, the difference was a little smaller, R$2 per hour on average.”
Law 14,611/2023 establishes that “equal pay and remuneration criteria between women and men for carrying out work of equal value or performing the same function is mandatory.” The rule provides that in the event of discrimination based on sex and race – as well as ethnicity, origin or age – payment of salary differences owed to the person discriminated against will be payable, in addition to compensation for moral damages.
The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and the National Confederation of Commerce, Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC) filed a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) against Law 14,611/2023.
For the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, present at the launch of the report, seeking equality between men and women is part of the “civilizing process.” If we want democracy in a civilized country, we need to have democracy, we need to have equality and we need have social justice”, said the minister.
