Italy was the country with the most cases of domestic violence against Brazilian women abroad, with 350 cases, 22.4% of incidents recorded during 2023. In total, 1,556 women asked the authorities for help for the same reason during the period.
After Italy, the United States appears in second place in the ranking with the most occurrences, with 240. Next are the United Kingdom (188), Portugal (127) and Spain (94).
The survey was carried out based on cases compiled in 186 Brazilian government departments, such as embassies, consulates and vice-consulates throughout 2023 – 48.8% of departments did not register cases.
But it is the numbers referring to two countries – Egypt (64) and Ireland (50) – that draw the most attention because they are proportionally larger in comparison to nations where there is a greater concentration of Brazilian immigrants, according to Daniela Grelin, executive director of Rights and Women’s Health from the Natura Institute, one of the institutions responsible for the survey, in addition to the Federal Senate and the Gênero e Número association.
While the United States has 41.7% of the Brazilian community abroad, Egypt has 0.05%, and Ireland, 1.6%. In terms of the number of cases of domestic violence against Brazilian women, both countries are ahead of, for example, Paraguay, which receives 5.2% of Brazilians living in other countries. Around 2.5 million Brazilian women live abroad.
Of the total cases of violence against Brazilian women abroad, more than half, 58%, refer to so-called vicarious violence, when there is the intention of causing suffering to women through third parties, in this case, their children. This classification includes disputes over the custody and abduction of minors, when one of the parents takes the child to another country without the consent of the other or the Court.
This type of violence against Brazilian women is more pronounced in Germany, where 204 cases were reported in 2023, almost all of which (200) involve disputes over child custody. Next come Portugal (199) and Italy (121).
Among cases of abduction of minors, Portugal leads with 18 records, followed by the United States, with 13, Italy (11), Lebanon (5) and the United Kingdom (4).
According to the executive director, there is underreporting of violence against women abroad. Among the main causes are lack of knowledge about the help that consular services can offer Brazilians abroad, irregular immigration, barriers with the local language and distance from friends and family.
The greater articulation of this type of service at the Brazilian Consulate in Rome, for example, is one of the executive director’s explanations for the country being at the top with the highest record of cases. “There may be a lower rate of underreporting in places where there is reception space. ”
She emphasizes that, for this reason, data such as those relating to Egypt and Ireland help to map which countries are most in need of providing specific structures to assist women.
