Brazil on International Women’s Day reports that a news portal revealed that murders of women and girls because of their gender rose by an annual 5 per cent to 1,400 in 2022.
This according to the statistic on Wednesday was a sad report as it was the highest in eight years.
The crime, known as femicide, is committed every six hours, the Brazilian news portal G1 said.
Its information came from a special survey of the Violence Monitor, which the media group Globo regularly compiles together with the University of São Paulo and the Forum for Public Security.
Overall, it said that all murders, regardless of gender, fell slightly in Brazil in 2022 compared to 2021.
However, the number of femicides, on the other hand, is the highest since 2015, the year in which Dilma Rousseff, then Brazilian president and now chairwoman of the BRICS development bank, signed a law that provides harsh punishments for killings of women and girls.
BRICS refers to the developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Homicides in the course of domestic violence or on the basis of gender were explicitly referred to as femicide in the legal directive.
In Brazil and Latin America, violence against women has been widespread for decades; in many cases, the murders are committed by partners or ex-partners.
Often the acts remain unsolved due to cultural factors, the influence of the Church, impunity and inefficiency of the authorities.
In other Latin American countries, especially in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, more and more women are raising their voices and demanding their rights. (dpa/NAN)
