Temporal trend of sexual violence against adolescent women in Brazil, 2011-2018

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the temporal trend of sexual violence (SV) reports against adolescent women in Brazil from 2011 to 2018. An ecological time series study was performed on reports of SV against women aged 10 to 19, which were available in the National Notifiable Diseases Reporting System (SINAN). Data were collected in 2020 but are related to reports filed from 2011 to 2018. The Prais-Winsten linear regression model was applied to analyze the time trend, including a calculation of the annual percentage variation (APC) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). We found a significant trend increase in all Brazilian regions. Although the rates in the Northern region are higher at the beginning and at the end of the analyzed time period, the reporting rates of the Southeast (APC 14.56%; 95%CI 7.98;21.54) and the South (APC 14.19%; 95%CI 6.56;22.36) showed a greater increase. The increase of SV reports in recent years shows how vulnerable adolescent women are to this type of violence, but also indicates greater improvement of violence surveillance systems. We conclude that both reporting systems and public policies aimed at tackling SV against women need to be further developed.

Key words: Sexual abuse; Adolescent; Women; Time series studies; Surveillance