The study analyzed integrated data from the Notifiable Diseases and Conditions Information System (SINAN) and the Mortality Information System (SIM) to map the trajectory of the same woman in different health systems, from related notifications of violence to death certificates.

A case-control methodology was used, in which the cases studied were women between 15 and 59 years old with a notification of violence perpetrated by an intimate partner and a death certificate. This group was compared to the control group: women with a notification, but without a record of death in the SIM. Women residing in 1,104 municipalities were considered and the period studied was between January 2011 and September 2017. From these outlines, the study worked with data from 151,826 women, 149,288 from the control group and 2,538 from the case group.

Among the causes of death in the case group, 40.6% were related to assaults. In this category, some characteristics of violence stand out, such as:

– The environment in which the violent act was perpetrated was most often the victim’s home (74.8%)

– Physical violence was predominant (57.2%)

– A significant part of the assaults was perpetrated with the use of piercing-cutting objects (23.8%) and firearms (10.7%)

– Chronic violence was observed in 45.4% of cases

From this analysis, some risk factors for mortality were identified:

– Age group between 15 and 29 years

– If compared to white women, black women are 1.29 times more likely to die and yellow¹ women, 3.76 times.

¹Literal translation of skin color naming convention used by IBGE

– Residents of rural and peri-urban regions

– History of violence in public spaces

– History of physical violence alone or combined with other types of violence

– In cases where the aggressor used firearms, the chance of fatal outcome is 12.52 times higher

On the other hand, some protective factors have been identified, such as pregnancy – pregnant women seem to be at lower risk of fatal outcome – and inhabiting urban regions: the larger the size of the municipality, the lower the risk of death.

National Health SurveyThe study aimed to analyze the association between self-identified sexual orientation and interpersonal violence in the Brazilian population. For this, data from 88,531 people aged 18 and over who answered questions related to sexual orientation in the 2019 National Survey of Health were analyzed. Among the respondents, 94.8% self-identified as heterosexual and 1.9% identified as LGB+.

Despite a low percentage of self-identified LGB+ people, the data indicate a higher prevalence of violence in this population: while the prevalence of violence for the general population was 18.2%, the LGB+ population was 2.52 times more likely to suffer any type of violence.

Main findings:

– LGB+ women had the highest prevalence of all subtypes of violence, and heterosexual men, the lowest.

– LGB+ women are three times more likely to experience physical violence compared to heterosexual women.

– Psychological violence was the most prevalent among LGB+ women (40.5%), followed by physical violence (15.8%).

– The LGB+ population is almost five times more likely to experience sexual violence than heterosexual people.

– LGB+ men are almost eight times more likely to experience sexual violence than heterosexual men.

– LGB+ women are almost four times more likely to experience sexual violence than heterosexual women.

Source: Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia – Violência contra pessoas LGB+ no Brasil: análise da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde 2019

A descriptive study that analyzes the variation in mortality and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) in Brazil. The DALY measures the years of life lost to death or disability and was estimated from the Global Burden of Diseases and Injuries study, which compared the years 1990 and 2019.

Main findings:

– The death rate of women and girls of all ages due to interpersonal violence went from the 20th leading cause of death in 1990 to the 25th in 2019. Despite the drop, there is no statistically significant difference between the rates of the two years, indicating stability.

– For women aged 15 to 49 years, in 1990, mortality from interpersonal violence was the 5th leading cause of death, becoming the 3rd in 2019.

– In 1990, interpersonal violence resulted in the death of 3,168 women in the age group of 15 to 49 years, with a higher rate among those who were between 25 and 29 years old.

– In 2019, there were 4,262 deaths, an increase of 33.8%, with the highest mortality rate among women aged 20 to 24 years. Also in 2019, 55.6% of deaths were caused by firearms.

– Comparing the DALYs for interpersonal violence against women of the age group studied, there was a drop of 13%, from 542.8 years lost among 100 thousand women in 1990 to 472.1 years lost in 1990. Despite the drop, in this period, violence went from the 11th to the 9th position among the causes that generate the greatest losses of life years in 2019.

– Comparing different Brazilian states, most maintained stable indicators, except for Bahia, which showed a 77.2% increase in death rates due to interpersonal violence against women between the two periods.

– The Federal District, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo showed decreases in their mortality rates, with negative variation of 27.9%, 50.7% and 47.6%, respectively.

The study aimed to characterize the physical violence perpetrated by intimate partners against women treated in health services in Brazil. To this end, data from the VIVA Survey were used, with information collected between September and December 2017.

Of the 713 women between 18 and 59 years who were treated after incidents of interpersonal violence, 276 (38,9%) were assaulted by an intimate partner. In general, this violence:

– Had moderate severity (85.1%)

– Occurred indoors (71.1%)

– Involved use of physical force (74.1%)

– Was directed against the victim’s head (50%)

Profile of the victims:

– Most of the women treated for consequences of physical violence in the urgency and emergency services were black.

– In most cases, it is suspected that the aggressor was under the influence of alcohol.

– Women with a higher degree of education experienced trauma and violence of a more serious nature more often. This data, although counterintuitive, may indicate that women with greater financial autonomy, when transgressing traditional gender roles, can be “punished” with violence perpetrated by partners.

– Black women, young women and/or women who were not in paid work tended to suffer more serious injuries.

– Violence with the use of firearms was more frequent against women with a lower degree of education.

 This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with intimate partner violence against adult women in Brazil. Through a cross-sectional epidemiological study, the records of 34,334 women between 18 and 59 years old were analyzed.

The study showed that age and income were the characteristics that presented statistical significance, indicating they are factors that more accurately determine the prevalence of violence.

Main findings:

– A higher prevalence of violence was identified among younger women, between 18 and 24 years old (approximately 9%), compared to women between 40 and 59 years old (6%).

– The prevalence among women with less education was 26% higher compared to those who completed high school.

-Among women who earn less than one minimum wage per month the prevalence was 65% higher compared to women who earn more than 5 minimum wages per month.

– The prevalence was 25% higher among self-declared black women, compared to self-declared white women.

– Among the regions of Brazil, the Northeast had the highest prevalence (8.17%), while the South had the lowest (6.77%).

The research aimed to analyze the prevalence of sexual violence against adolescents between 13 and 17 years in Brazil. Data from the 2019 National Survey of Health in Schools (PeNSE), a survey applied in public and private schools in the country by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), were used. In all, 159,245 valid questionnaires were collected, among which 14.6% of respondents report having been victims of sexual abuse at some point in their lives.

Main findings:

– The prevalence of sexual violence was higher among young people aged 16 to 17 years (17.4%), among girls (20%) and among private school students (16.3%).

– The prevalence of rape was 6.3%, being more recurrent in the age group of 16 to 17 years (7.7%) and among girls (8.8%), but this time with a higher prevalence among public school students (6.5%).

– Among victims, 56.3% reported having been victims of rape before the age of 13.

– From a regional perspective, adolescents from the North region were the ones who most reported having experienced sexual violence (17.1%).

– The most frequent perpetrators of sexual abuse were boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, crushes and dates, except for adolescents between 13 and 15 years in the Northeast, whose most common aggressors were friends (24.3%).

– In cases of rape, the most common aggressors were also boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, dates and crushes, followed by family members.

The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of violence among Brazilian students based on data from the National Survey of Health in Schools (PeNSE), 2015 and 2019, through cross-sectional and descriptive research.
Main findings:

– Data from 2019 indicate that 11.6% of students missed classes in the 30 days prior to the survey because they did not feel safe on the way to school, while 10.8% missed classes in the same period because they felt unsafe in their own school.

– Girls reported greater insecurity on the way to school (12.7%) compared to boys (10.5%), as well as public school students also reported more insecurity on the way to school (12.5%) compared to private school students (6.2%).

– Insecurity in the school environment also prevailed among public school students (11.4%).

– Among the respondents, 10.6% had already been involved in fights, with 2.9% in fights with the use of firearms and 4.8% in fights with blunt/bladed weapons. Among those who have already been involved in fights, boys are the most common. Engagement in fights with the use of firearms and blunt/bladed weapons was more prevalent among public school students.

– In the same year, 18.2% of adolescents reported having suffered an accident or assault in the previous year.

– Girls had as most common aggressors their mother, father or guardian (19.6%), while boys were mostly assaulted by others (14.4%).

– Private school students reported a higher prevalence of accidents and assaults (26.1%).

– Comparing data from 2015 and 2019, the prevalence of engagement in fights with firearms fell from 6.4% to 2.9%, while engagement in fights with blunt/bladed weapons fell from 7.9% to 4.8%.