Prevalence and factors associated with recurrent violence in a southeastern Brazilian state: Cross-sectional study.

Violence is a serious public health problem and its repetitive character points to a chronic phenomenon and its insertion in the daily lives of victims. To identify the frequency of repeat violence reported in adults in a Brazilian state and its association with the characteristics of the victim, the aggressor, and the aggression. This is an epidemiological cross-sectional study conducted with data from the notifications of violence recorded in the Notifiable Diseases Information System in Espírito Santo, Brazil from 2011 to 2018. Bivariate analysis was performed using Pearson Chi-Squared test and the multivariate Poisson regression, using a widely used hierarchical model, with the victim's characteristics in the first level and the aggressor's characteristics and the occurrence in the second level. In the multivariate analysis, the variables that obtained P  < .2 in the bivariate analysis were included in the model, keeping those with P  < .05. Data were expressed by prevalence ratio (PR), with confidence intervals of 95%. During the period, 9933 cases of violence were registered in the adult population, referring to 1061 notifications of male adults and 8872 notifications of female adults. The prevalence of repeat violence was 56.7% (95% CI: 56.0 - 57.5). It was more prevalent among women (PR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.63 - 1.83), in the age groups over 40 years (PR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.08 - 1.16), black and mixed-race ( P : 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01 - 1.07), and with a partner ( P : 1.09; 95% CI: 1.05 - 1.12). Victims with disabilities or disorders suffered 34% more from this problem (95% CI: 1.29 - 1.38) and lived in urban or peri-urban areas (PR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.10 - 1.23). As for the aggressors, they were under 25 years of age (PR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.02 - 1.11), of both sexes (PR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.06 - 1.64), and were the victim's intimate partner (PR: 3.91; 95% CI: 3.25 - 4.71). The aggressions had only 1 perpetrator (PR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.07 - 1.28) and occurred in the residence (PR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.26 - 1.41). Repeat violence showed high frequency among notifications and was associated with characteristics of the victim, aggressor, and event. The results point to a phenomenon present in the daily life of communities that is potentially capable of negatively impacting the different areas of the subjects lives. Studies on the subject are important to understand the phenomenon and implement strategic actions to confront it.

Analysis of reported cases of sexual violence in Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil, 2011-2018.

BACKGROUND: sexual violence includes all sexual acts consummated or attempt to obtain them, unwanted sexual comments and actions that go against the other's sexuality through coercion, which can be done through the use of physical force, psychological pressure, extortion or threat, this phenomenon appears in all life cycles. Identified the frequency and characteristics of sexual violence against women in a state in the southeastern region of Brazil. from 2011 to 2018. METHOD: this is a cross-sectional epidemiological study that evaluated all cases of sexual violence reported in Espírito Santo, present in the Information System of Diseases and Notifications of the Ministry of Health from 2011 to 2018. The analysis was based on performed in Stata 14.1. RESULTS: the prevalence of notification of sexual violence was 13.2% (CI95%: 12.8-13.5). Most victims were women (PR: 3.38), aged between 0 and 9 years (PR: 19), with a higher prevalence in people without disabilities or disorders (PR: 1.18) and residents of urban/periurban area (PR: 1.15). Men were the most frequent aggressors (PR: 13.79), with the most prevalent cases being reported by people unknown to the victim (PR: 6.01). The occurrence was 78% more reported at home and committed by an aggressor (PR:1.19). Most cases were repeated (PR:1.13). CONCLUSIONS: the notification of sexual violence in Espírito Santo was high and evidenced the vulnerability of some groups, as well as the profile of the perpetrators. It is necessary to work on training professionals in the areas of health and education in relation to the identification of cases of sexual violence, mainly due to the significant involvement of children and adolescents.

Sexual Violence against Adolescents in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil: An Analysis of Reported Cases.

OBJECTIVE: We describe the prevalence of the reported cases of sexual violence against adolescents and analyze their associated factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional analytical study (n = 561) was conducted with reported data on sexual violence against adolescents in the state of Espírito Santo registered in SINAN between 2011 and 2018 to understand the prevalence and predictors of sexual violence against adolescent victims, as well as to describe the perpetrators and the nature of the aggression. Variables to characterize the victim, aggression, and perpetrator were used. Bivariate analyses were performed using chi-square (χ2) and Fisher's exact tests, and multivariate analyses were conducted using log-binomial models; the results were presented with prevalence ratios. All analyses were stratified by sex. RESULTS: The prevalence of sexual violence was 32.6%, and 93% of the victims were female. In both males and females, the reported sexual violence was associated with a younger age (10-12 years old), living at home, being related to the perpetrator, and a history of sexual violence. In females, the reported sexual violence was also associated with the number of perpetrators, and in males, with the perpetrator's age. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show the high frequency of reporting of sexual violence and the characteristics of the victim, the aggression, and the aggressor as factors associated with its occurrence in both sexes. The importance of health information systems for disseminating data and the need for measures to prevent and treat the violence among adolescents is urgent.