Socioeconomic Factors Associated With Reports of Domestic Violence in Large Brazilian Cities

Abstract

Background: Domestic violence is a traumatic experience that can lead to physical consequences, mental disorders and financial damage. Over 18 cases per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in Brazil between 2013 and 2014. The ministry of health poses a mandatory notification of all cases of domestic violence, which is essential, bearing in mind its systemic relation to various social issues and the extensive regional differences and high socioeconomic inequalities present in Brazil. Aim: To analyze the characteristics of the notification rates of domestic violence and investigate the correlation of these with health and socioeconomic characteristics of large Brazilian cities. Methods: Retrospective data on notifications of domestic violence was collected from the National Information System for Notifiable Diseases for Brazil, 2017. Dependent variables were collected from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and Ministry of Citizenship. Inclusion criteria were: cities larger than 100.000 habitants and that had at least 20 reports, totaling 68.313 reports in 259 cities. These were stratified by age, race and sex of victim, type of violence used, violence perpetrator, place of occurrence and means of aggression. Proportional number of notified cases was calculated for each city to expose different characteristics of reports. A multiple linear regression model was used to investigate the correlation between report rates and different socioeconomic and health variables. Results: The analysis showed a high proportion of repeated violence, use of body strength and over 50% were perpetrated by a partner or boyfriend. Report rates were higher for women, black individuals and children under four, highlighting subgroups of the population that were more vulnerable. Indeed, these groups were correlated differently with socioeconomic variables. Poverty, assessed as Bolsa Família investment, was correlated with domestic violence report rates across vulnerable groups. Conclusion: The study showed that black women and children are more vulnerable to domestic violence, highlighting deleterious effects of patriarchy and structural racism within Brazilian society. Altogether, we suggest that reducing poverty, patriarchy and structural racism could lead to fewer cases of domestic violence.

Keywords: Brazil; domestic violence; gender-based violence; mandatory reporting; racism.

Figure 1

Characteristics of domestic violence reports in Brazilian cities with over 100.000 habitants, 2017. Reports were stratified by types of violence (A), means of aggression (B), place of occurrence (C) and data on perpetrator of the violence (D). Proportional number of each subcategory was achieved after normalization to total number of cases. Of note, the sum of proportions can surpass 100%, since reports may involve more than one subcategory, for instance more than one perpetrator. Data analyzed through non-parametric Friedman test with Dunn's multiple comparison test, since data did not pass normality test. P-values shown in figure. Bar graphs express mean ± S.E.M for 259 observations.

Figure 2

Domestic violence report rates according to victim's sex, race and age. Brazil, 2017. Report rates were calculated according to each subcategory of population within cities. These were divided by sex (A), race (B) or age (C) of the victim. Data in (A) analyzed through paired non-parametric Wilcoxon test, whereas data in (B) and (C) were analyzed through non-parametric Friedman test with Dunn's multiple comparison test, since data did not pass normality test. P-values shown in figure. Bar graphs express mean ± S.E.M for 259 observations.