Women in the Legal Amazon are more victims of violence than in other regions, study shows

In the Legal Amazon, women are proportionally more victims of murder and sexual violence than women in other regions of the country and records of non-lethal violence reached the highest numbers in the entire historical series in 2022.

The data comes from the report “Violence against women in the Legal Amazon in the last five years compared to the rest of the country”, by the Igarapé Institute, released this Monday (18).

The study also reveals a faster growth in the region in rates of physical, property and psychological violence compared to the rest of Brazil. While the intentional homicide rates of women in the country fell by 12%, in the Amazon, there was a reduction of only 2% in the last five years.

The state of Maranhão showed a 252.4% increase in homicide rates — the biggest increase among states in the Amazon region that record increases in cases and contributed to the less significant reduction in violence against women in the region. Three other states in the region recorded increases in rates: Rondônia (58.6%), Mato Grosso (41.4%) and Tocantins (7.8%).

In the same period, femicide rates in the Amazon increased by 15%, while the rest of the country recorded 22% growth. The researchers point out that femicide rates are slightly higher in the Amazon. In 2022, 1.5 women were victims for every 100,000 women, compared to the rate of 1.1 outside the region .

The report shows that there was a 47% increase in rates of non-lethal violence in the Amazon, while in the rest of Brazil this growth was 12%. See the comparison between the increase in different types of violence in the Amazon region and the rest of Brazil;

Physical violence

• Legal Amazon: 37%
• Rest of the country : 3%

Patrimonial violence

• Amazon : 62%
• Rest of the country: 51%

Psychological violence

• Amazon: 82%
• Rest of the country: 14%

In 2018, the rate of sexual violence in the Amazon region was 45.4 per 100,000 women — a number higher than the rate of 32.9 in the rest of the country. In 2022, these rates increased to, respectively, 60.8 and 47.0.

Violence against girls aged 0 to 14 in the Amazon, who represented around 69% of victims in the last five years, according to the research. In other words, for every 10 victims, seven are girls in this age group.

Non-lethal violence grew during the pandemic

The rates of psychological and property violence had a significant increase in the most critical period of the Covid-19 pandemic, driven by the state of Pará, according to the study.

In the state, property violence increased by 134% between 2019 and 2020, year that recorded a rate of 8.2. In 2020, cases registered in Pará represented around 76% of the total cases of property violence against women in the Legal Amazon. As for psychological violence, cases doubled — the rate jumped from 66.7 to 133.3 per 100,000 women in the period.

The cases registered in the state represented around 68% of the total cases of psychological violence involving female victims in the Legal Amazon in 2020.

What does the Ministry of Women say?

A CNN questioned the Ministry of Women regarding the data revealed in the report and, until the publication of this report, had not received a response.

This Tuesday (19), the Ministry launches the Action Plan for the National Pact to Prevent Femicides. The objective is to “prevent all forms of discrimination, misogyny and gender-based violence against women and girls, through the implementation of intersectoral government actions, with a gender perspective and its intersectionality”, according to the ministry.

On the occasion, the Wings for the Future Program will also be launched, which seeks to increase the participation of young women in technology, energy, infrastructure, logistics, transport, science and innovation sectors, with an emphasis on careers focused on socioeconomic sustainability.