The state news program on the “RedeTV!” network presents the social project of the Augustinian-Recollect Family in Fortaleza as a model for raising awareness against this scourge, with testimonies from beneficiaries and members of the comprehensive care team.
“RedeTV!” is a Brazilian commercial television network with a national scope with studios in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Recife, and Fortaleza. Its news program in Ceará on August 1 focused on the latest data on violence against children and adolescents from the latest Brazilian Public Safety Yearbook.
“Brazil recorded more than 800,000 cases of violence against children and adolescents in the first half of 2024. In Ceará, cases of abuse increased by more than 30%. This teenager, who cannot be identified, was tortured and beaten by her mother from the time she was a baby until she was 14 when she entered the Saint Monica Home:
“She wouldn’t let me take courses; she just kept me locked up at home, and sometimes, for any nonsense, she would hit me. She hit me with a broomstick, with a belt, with a rope; she even broke a vase on my head, and she also hit my brothers.”
Priscila Alencar de Andrade Coelho is the psychologist at Saint Monica Home: “The truth is that they arrive quite insecure, with the most varied possible disorders and in very high severity: generalized anxiety a lot of mistrust that harms any type of emotional relationship they may have.”
In Brazil, in the first half of this year, around 150,000 complaints through the telephone line against child abuse (number 100) brought to light approximately 870,000 violations of various kinds against children and adolescents.
In Ceará, 4,000 complaints and 24,000 rapes were registered during the period. Of the 184 municipalities in the state, 150 had complaints. Violence against children and adolescents increased in all aspects in 2023, according to the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook. Rape remains the most common crime, affecting 230 out of every 100,000 children and adolescents. Boys and girls aged 10 to 13 are five times more likely to suffer from it.
Ariel de Castro Alves is a lawyer specializing in the rights of children and youth: “In Brazil, drug and alcohol consumption are increasing, as are family crises and separations, poverty and misery are increasing… All of these situations also contribute to the increase in violence against children and adolescents.”
This teenager, who is being fostered at the Saint Monica Home, found there the strength to overcome her traumas and the motivation to live: “I want to be a basketball player because at my school there is a team with a coach and we play basketball and, from time to time, we celebrate championships.”
Sexual violence against children and adolescents is an open wound that exposes the vulnerability of a society incapable of protecting its most defenseless members. The numbers are terrifying: in Brazil, there were more than 74,000 rape victims in 2023, only a fraction of those that occurred.
Of every ten victims, six are between 0 and 13 years old. Most (68.3%) occur where there should be more protection and security: the home. And 71.6% occur during the day, with the aggressors, in many cases, being close family members (6 out of 10 cases).
This type of violence manifests itself in all social strata and is reinforced by a culture of silence and impunity. The system often fails to protect them, resulting, in many cases, in the victim returning to live again with her abuser.
The Saint Monica Home has stood out as a beacon of hope, a physical, emotional, and psychological refuge, and a reference in the care and follow-up of this type of victim. The arduous struggle faces not only a lack of resources but also a problem that is so deeply rooted in society.
The data released in the 2023 edition of the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook reveal a devastating scenario: compared to 2022, the rate of rape and violations of vulnerable people increased by 8.2% and reached 36.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants; 75.8% of victims were never able to give consent, either because of their age (under 14 years old) or for any other reason (disability, illness, etc.).
