Brazil is considered the fifth most dangerous place in the world to be female, and now under the current president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, administration, his authoritarian policies and sexist and homophobic rhetoric have increased violence across the country. The murder and targeting of women “Femicide” has increased within a year of  Bolsonaros presidency. From 2018 to 2019: 1.2 per 100,000 Brazilian women were killed on account of their gender, up from a femicide rate of 1.1 recorded a year earlier. 

 

The problem of gender violence in Brazil, specifically in cities such as Rio de Janeiro, is not being sufficiently addressed. Leticia Bahia, Girl Up Regional Representative for Brazi says that: 

 

“Women are reporting more, which is amazing and there have been tons of campaigns in that direction, but we are still left in the dark when we try to understand what’s happening.  Are men raping more? Abusing more? we don’t know that ”

 

 Thousands of domestic violence cases have not been properly investigated and shelters for domestic violence victims are constantly being closed due to government budget cuts. Current statistics reflect that: four girls under 13 are raped every hour and two minutes.” The Inter-American Human Rights Commission ranks Brazil, 40 percent of overall femicide in all of Latin America, with at least four women killed a day. With the increasing number of femicide in Brazil, it is crucial to spread awareness about gender violence.