"I had such a great hatred," recalls Nair, 41, when reporting her uncle's sexual abuse, which began when she was 12. "I became a rebellious daughter and started prostituting myself."
She is one of the thousands of rape victims in Brazil – women account for 86.9% of all cases registered in the country.
The data is from the Brazilian Yearbook of Public Security 2021, based on police reports registered in the states in 2020.
According to the Brazilian Penal Code, the crime of rape is defined as "compelling someone, through violence or serious threat, to have a carnal connection or to practice or allow another libidinous act to be performed with them."
The survey shows that crime has been occurring with increasingly younger victims: the percentage of children 13 years old and under among the records rose from 57.9% in 2019 to 60.6% in 2020.
This is despite a drop in total complaints during the pandemic. There were 60,460 cases last year, against 69,886 in the previous period.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon