The number of reports of violations of the human rights of children and adolescents in Rio Grande do Norte increased by 68% from January to September 2021 compared to the second half of 2020. Compiled by the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), based on the Data Panel from the National Ombudsman for Human Rights, an agency linked to the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, the numbers show that 1,577 complaints were made involving children and adolescents in the period analyzed, with at least 6,067 violations registered.
The quantitative ones, which are considered underreported, are higher than the complaints related to non-compliance with the basic rights of the elderly and women, and are not limited to mistreatment. Cases of sexual violence against children and adolescents are increasingly common, which calls the attention of ISD's multidisciplinary psychologist preceptor, Carla Glenda Silva. “The numbers grew due to the fact that denouncing or communicating the fact involving children or adolescents is mandatory for protection agencies. When this complaint is not made to the Tutelary Council, for example, it is usually made anonymously. But the numbers are still underreported, as many people are still afraid to report. This number, of children and adolescents, still does not correspond to reality”, analyzes the psychologist who holds a PhD in Health Sciences and works in the care of children and women victims of sexual violence at the Center for Education and Research in Health Anita Garibaldi (Anita) , linked to ISD, in Macaíba (RN).
The pandemic, which forced the world's population to carry out social isolation as one of the most effective measures to combat the coronavirus, is one of the possible causes of the increase in complaints. “The pandemic may have caused more cases to occur, as people spent more time together at home. Generally, those who commit sexual violence have been violated in the same way before. There has been an increase in demand for psychological care services. But families still resist the complaint, in most cases. The aggressor is hardly a person from outside the family nucleus or the daily life of the child or adolescent”, declares Carla Glenda Silva.
The prosecutor for the Defense of Children and Youth, Manoel Onofre de Souza Neto, from the Public Ministry of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (MPRN), monitors cases involving sexual crimes against children and adolescents. He points out that the closure of schools, which functioned as a channel for offering complaints against alleged aggressors, undermined the work of dealing with cases. “The pandemic brought, in the case of sexual crimes, a worrying situation. Children and adolescents spend more time at home, where most cases of sexual violence occur. These cases had a decrease, but then they returned to a new dynamic”, analyzes the prosecutor.
Diagnosis
The MPRN produced a report, the result of a quantitative and qualitative research, about the structure and current conditions of assistance to children and adolescents who are victims and/or witnesses of sexual violence in the Municipality of Natal. A mapping of the care services in that municipality was carried out through interviews by telephone, WhatsApp and/or face-to-face contacts, with subsequent systematization and analysis of the collected data, with the objective of knowing the reality of the local protection network, with
with a view to building collective and integrated strategies for better management and performance among all the social apparatuses that comprise it.
Those responsible for the report point out that “with regard to the flow in general, it was possible to observe structuring obstacles to the child and youth care policy, such as insufficient personnel, information technologies/systems, training, communication and the lack of clarity in regarding shared roles and responsibilities. But also challenges with regard to methodologies for approaching and assisting children and adolescents in situations of sexual violence; the reduced number of programs and projects aimed at this public in the governmental area, but mainly non-governmental; and the weakness in therapeutic care, in mental health monitoring and in the specialized expertise service”.
To mitigate current shortcomings, the MPRN points to the need “to formulate a permanent education policy for all actors in intersectoral policies (social assistance, education, health, rights and guardianship councils, security agents and others); clear definition of procedural flows and protocols to improve the systematic care; formal publicity for intersectoral assistance; statistical data should be better worked on by services in general”. He also emphasized that “there is an imperative need to resume the discussion and formulation of the Municipal Plan to Combat Sexual Violence in Natal/RN, as a guiding and guiding instrument for the public policies involved, in terms of mobilization and communication” , with the subsequent creation of an Integrated Center in which the victim could be fully cared for.
Data
Violation of human rights
Period: January 1, 2021 / September 29, 2021
State: Rio Grande do Norte
children and teenagers
1,577 complaints
6,067 violations
Elderly
1,220 complaints
4,990 violations
Domestic and family violence against women
938 complaints
4,247 violations
Period: July 1, 2020 / December 31, 2020
State: Rio Grande do Norte
children and teenagers
936 complaints
2,364 violations
Elderly
863 complaints
2,401 violations
Domestic and family violence against women
655 complaints
2,056 violations
What is a complaint?
It is a report of a human rights violation involving a victim and a suspect. A complaint may contain one or more human rights violations.
What is a violation?
Any fact that violates or violates the human rights of a victim. Examples: mistreatment, violence or sexual exploitation, human trafficking.
Source: Data Panel of the National Ombudsman for Human Rights, an agency linked to the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights.
national numbers
Violence against children and adolescents reached the number of 50,098 complaints in the first half of 2021. Of this total, 40,822 (81%) occurred inside the victim's home. The data are from Dial 100, one of the channels of the National Ombudsman for Human Rights, of the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (ONDH/MMFDH). In the same period in 2020, the number of complaints reached 53,533.
Most violations are committed by people close to family life. The mother appears as the main violator, with 15,285 complaints; followed by the father, with 5,861; stepfather/stepmother, with 2,664; and other family members, with 1,636 records. The reports made to the ONDH are mostly anonymous complaints, around 25,000 of the total.
More than 93% of the complaints (30,570) are against the physical or mental integrity of the victim. The Ombudsman's records counted 7,051 restrictions on some type of freedom or individual right of children and adolescents. 3,355 victims also had basic social rights, such as protection and food, withdrawn.
One of the most worrying data is the frequency of recorded violations. More than 70% occurred every day, as indicated by 23,147 complaints and, of the total for the first half, 10,365 occurred more than a year before registration with the Ombudsman.
“It is the duty of every citizen to be aware and denounce any violation of human rights, especially those in which children and adolescents are the victims. We serve those who need it, with the support and speed necessary for these cases”, explains ombudsman Fernando César Ferreira.
Dial 100
Dial 100 is a free service for denouncing human rights violations. Anyone can make a complaint through the services, which are open 24 hours a day, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. In addition to registering and forwarding cases to the competent bodies, the Ombudsman receives complaints, suggestions or compliments about the functioning of the customer service.
