Children, adolescents, and Black women are the main victims of rape in Brazil
25 de July de 2025
By Ana Pastana – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – Brazil recorded 87,545 victims of rape and statutory rape in 2024, according to the 19th edition of the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook. Of those, 76.8% were under the age of 14. Another 61.3% were 13 or younger, with the majority of cases concentrated in the 10 to 13 age range. Black women made up 55.6% of all reported victims.
Compared to the previous year, this figure represents a 0.9% increase, amounting to one person raped every six minutes. It is the highest number in the historical series, which began in 2011.
The report also shows that sexual violence is predominantly intrafamilial: 45.5% of perpetrators were family members and 20.3% were intimate partners or ex-partners. Around 65.7% of reported rapes took place inside the victim’s home.
Despite the record-high numbers, the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP) emphasizes that chronic underreporting continues to obscure the true scale of the issue, as many crimes go unreported.
The FBSP also notes technical challenges, such as the lack of standardization in police reports and the need for better training of officers to correctly classify rape crimes.
Indigenous woman raped in Amazonas
This week, a sexual violence case in the state of Amazonas drew national attention. A 29-year-old Indigenous woman of the Kokama ethnicity reported being raped by at least five Military Police officers (PM-AM) inside the 53rd Interactive Police Station (DIP) in the municipality of Santo Antônio do Içá, 880 kilometers from Manaus.
L.M.S., 27 at the time, was held in a male cell for approximately nine months, from 2022 to 2023, while breastfeeding her newborn son.
She reported being raped repeatedly by state security officers and a municipal guard agent during her entire detention — nine months and 17 days — until she was transferred to the Women’s Provisional Detention Center (CDPF), located at kilometer 8 of the BR-174 highway connecting Manaus to Boa Vista (RR).
On Wednesday, the Amazonas Military Police (PM-AM) announced to the press that four officers will be indicted for serial rape against the Indigenous woman. The indictments will take place within a Military Police Inquiry (IPM).
According to the force, the officers involved — whose identities have not been disclosed — are currently assigned to administrative duties and have had their service weapons confiscated as part of the disciplinary process.
Data from the National Secretariat for Penal Policies (Senappen) reveals that over 20 women are currently detained in conditions similar to those in which the Indigenous woman was abused.