Characteristics of sexual violence against adolescent and adult women reported by the public health services in Santa Catarina State, Brazil

Sexual violence against women is a form of gender violence and both a severe human rights violation and public health problem. This ecological, descriptive, and temporal series study aims to analyze sexual violence against pre-adolescent, adolescent, and adult females in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, based on data from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases, in order to describe the characteristics of cases of sexual violence perpetrated against women, reported by health professionals from 2008 a 2013. A total of 15,508 cases of violence were reported, including 2,010 cases of sexual violence (12.9%). Cases of violence totaled 950 reports in the 10 to 14 year bracket (47.3%), 450 in the 15 to 19 year bracket (22.4%), and 610 (30.3%) in women 20 years or older (adults). Adolescent females suffered violence by a single aggressor, at home, at night, with vaginal penetration, and with greater tendency to repeated assault and pregnancy as a result. For females 10 to 14 and 15 to 19 years of age, the aggressors were un-known in 32.9% and 33.1% of the reports, respectively. Adult women were sexually assaulted either at home or on public byways, at night or in the early morning hours, by a single aggressor, with vaginal penetration in more than half of the cases, with more physical injuries, and with more sub-sequent suicide attempts. The information should contribute to awareness-raising of policymakers, health professionals, researchers, and health field professors concerning the importance of reporting violence in order to help develop interventions to prevent such violence against women.