Sociodemographic, criminal and forensic characteristics of a sample of female children and adolescents murdered in Brazil : 2010-2016

Abstract

Introduction: In Brazil, violence, regardless of the type, is the leading cause of death in adolescents and young adults.Objective: To describe the characteristics of the homicides in which female children and adolescents were the victims based on the autopsy reports recorded in the morgue of the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study in which 70 autopsy reports of girls and female adolescents who were killed between January 2010 and December 2016 were analyzed. The cases were evaluated according to the homicide motive or the homicide perpetrator, and five categories were established: drug trafficking related death, femicide, homicide perpetrated by a family member, death preceded by sexual violence, and death related to other transgressions.Results: There was a significant increase in the number of girls and female adolescents who were murdered between 2010 (n=7) and 2016 (n=19). Most of the homicides (64.2%) were related to drug, while femicide occurred in 15.7% of the cases. Homicides perpetrated by a family member, or preceded by sexual violence or related with other transgressions were less frequent as they occurred in 10%, 5.7% and 4.2% of the cases, respectively.Conclusion: Greater attention must be paid to the increase in the number of drug trafficking related homicides among female adolescents when creating and implementing relevant public policies.

Introducción. En Brasil, la violencia, en sus diferentes manifestaciones, es la primera causa de muerte entre adolescentes y adultos jóvenes de ambos sexos. Objetivo. Describir las características de los homicidios de niñas y adolescentes registrados en la morgue de Porto Alegre, Brasil.Materiales y métodos. Estudio transversal que analizó 70 pericias de necropsia de jóvenes víctimas de homicidio entre enero de 2010 y diciembre de 2016. Los casos fueron evaluados según los motivos de los crímenes, identificando 5 categorías: muertes causadas por tráfico de drogas, feminicidios, homicidios familiares, muertes por violencia sexual y homicidios relacionados con otras infracciones legales.Resultados. Hubo un aumento significativo en el número de niñas y mujeres adolescentes víctimas de homicidio entre 2010 (n=7) y 2016 (n=19). La mayoría de casos estuvieron relacionados con el tráfico de estupefacientes (64.2%), mientras que los casos de feminicidio representaron 15.7% da la muestra. Los homicidios cometidos por un familiar, los precedidos de violencia sexual y aquellos relacionados con otras actividades ilegales fueron menos frecuentes con un 10%, 5.7% y 4.2%, respectivamente.Conclusiones. Es necesario prestar más atención al aumento de los homicidios en esta población relacionados con el tráfico de estupefacientes a la hora de crear e implementar políticas públicas al respecto.