Violence committed by acquaintances - Brazil, 2013

Abstract

The scope of this article is to describe the prevalence of violence committed by acquaintances in accordance with demographic characteristics. It is a descriptive study, based on data from a population-based National Health Research survey conducted in Brazil in 2013. Data from the adult population (≥ 18 years) of 64,348 households. Prevalence rates were calculated and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) according to gender, age, education, race/color, area of residence and geographical region. The prevalence of violence committed by acquaintances was 2.5% (95%CI 2.3-2.7), significantly higher in women (3.1%; 95%CI 2.8-3.5) compared to men (1.8%; 95% CI 1.6-2.1). This prevalence was higher in the population aged 18-29 years old (3.2%; 95%CI 2.8-3.7) compared to older individuals (1.1%; 95%CI 0.8-1.3), and among residents of the North (3.2%; 95%CI 2.5-3.8) and Northeast Regions (3.0%; 95%CI 2.5-3.8) when compared to residents of the Southeast Region (2.0%; 95%CI 1.6-2.3). Violence was present in higher prevalence among women, proving the occurrence of gender-based violence and confirming its occurrence in all geographical regions and in different population groups in Brazil in 2013.

Key words
Violence; Domestic violence; Prevalence; Health surveys; Descriptive epidemiology