Brazil has now stricter regulations to combat crimes of sexual violence against children and adolescents, including in digital environments and through the use of artificial intelligence.

A new law takes effect this Friday (Aug. 7), amending Brazil’s Statute of the Child and Adolescent – known as ECA – as well as a number of related criminal codes and acts, in order to impose harsher criminal penalties on the perpetrators of these offenses.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Study shows persistence of violence against children in Brazil.
• Violence against children in Brazil rises over 120% in 5 years.

Among the key changes, the legislation expands the scope for investigating sex crimes committed online. It authorizes law enforcement agencies to conduct online patrols to identify and collect files made available in public digital environments.

This activity does not require prior judicial authorization. The law also strengthens the role of undercover police officers online in investigating crimes.

Artificial intelligence

The new law explicitly addresses the use of AI in crimes related to child sexual violence. It increases penalties for perpetrators who use tools such as deepfakes, filters, or other means capable of altering images and voices to impersonate children or adolescents and groom victims.

In addition, there will be increased penalties for criminals who employ digital anonymization mechanisms – such as concealing or falsifying IP addresses and other identifiers – with the aim of hindering identification by authorities.

Regarding illegal material, the law broadens the definition of content depicting sexual violence against children and adolescents to include real or fictional depictions produced, manipulated, or generated by AI when they have sexual connotations.

Care for victims

The new law guarantees children and adolescents who are victims or witnesses of sexual violence the right to specialized, ongoing, and comprehensive psychological and psychosocial care. This support must take into account the emotional impacts resulting from the constant circulation of images and videos on the internet, including on international platforms.

The law also stipulates that victims must be provided care at health facilities within the country’s national health care system, the SUS, in an environment that ensures privacy and protection against access by unauthorized persons – especially the perpetrator.

In addition, the perpetrator will be required to fully reimburse the costs of the victim’s treatment, including services provided by the SUS.

Heinous crimes and preventive detention

The law also expands the list of crimes considered heinous, including various acts related to the production, dissemination, possession, and solicitation involving sexual violence against children and adolescents.

It also includes the possibility of preventive detention for crimes against sexual dignity committed against minors and for offenses under the ECA related to the sexual exploitation of children.

Furthermore, the legislation also imposes harsher penalties on members of criminal organizations involved in crimes against children and adolescents and strengthens measures for the forfeiture of assets and proceeds obtained through criminal activity.

Pregnancy during childhood or adolescence interrupted the education of six out of ten (61%) young women interviewed in a study entitled Marcas do Tempo: Gravidez na Infância ou Adolescência e seus Impactos na Vida de Mulheres no Brasil (“Traces of Time: Pregnancy in Childhood or Adolescence and Its Impacts on the Lives of Women in Brazil”), conducted by the NGO Plan Brasil.

The study surveyed over 1,500 women aged 19 to 29 from all regions of Brazil and compared two groups – those who became pregnant during childhood or adolescence and those who did not. In the case of interrupted education, the percentage drops to 33 percent among the second group.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Study shows persistence of violence against children in Brazil.
• Over half of Brazilian undergraduates drop out to care for children.

Pregnancy during childhood or adolescence is a turning point that exacerbates inequalities that already existed even before the pregnancy, Plan Brasil CEO Cynthia Betti noted.

“The data show that these girls face barriers that compound one another, be it in education, health, the labor market, or the exercise of their most basic rights,” she said.

Eight out of ten respondents (83%) also reported having left a job or missed a career opportunity because they needed to care for their children.

According to the survey results, even when starting from similar backgrounds, young women who became pregnant during childhood or adolescence face greater disadvantages throughout their lives.

In the study, 73 percent reported having been discriminated against because of their pregnancy, whether within their family, at school, or in health care settings.

This prejudice appears repeatedly in the responses, with descriptions of judgmental attitudes regarding these young women’s intellectual, moral, and professional capabilities.

Teenage marriage

The study also shows that 59 percent of young women who became pregnant before age 19 went on to marry or enter a domestic partnership shortly after their first pregnancy.

The study further identifies a 19-percentage-point increase in the likelihood of marriage before age 16 among these young women.

The data also show that, among young women who became pregnant before age 14, half (50%) did not have access to legal abortion services, even though Brazilian law classifies pregnancy in this age group as statutory rape.

In Betti’s view, these young women did not just lose a job or a year of schooling; they lost the chance to choose their own paths at the very moment they most needed that autonomy.

“Reversing this situation requires the implementation, monitoring, and funding of integrated public policies focused on prevention – not isolated responses. Listening to these stories is what allows us to transform statistics into a public commitment,” she argued.

Recommendations

The study lists recommendations ranging from ensuring rights-based sex education and unhindered access to contraceptive methods to access to daycare centers with hours compatible with study and work schedules.

The study also highlights the importance of combating obstetric violence and contraceptive coercion, as well as first-job policies aimed at young mothers.

The Atlas of Social Mobility, released Friday (Jul. 31), reveals that race, gender, and family background are the main factors limiting social mobility in Brazil. The Atlas is a public platform developed by the Institute for Social Mobility and Development (IMDS) in partnership with the Prospera Lab research group.

According to the survey, among white youth born into families in the bottom 25 percent of the income distribution, 36.3 percent remain in the same group as adults. Among non-white individuals, the share rises to 51.6 percent, indicating that race is an even more decisive factor in social mobility outcomes.

Notícias relacionadas:

• UN: Brazil remains off Hunger Map.
• Brazil adds political education to school curriculum.
• One in four public school students in Brazil studies full-time.

Data from the Atlas indicate that gender also significantly affects prospects for social mobility. Among children of parents in the bottom 25 percent of the income distribution, about one-third of men (32.9%) remain in the same income stratum in adulthood. Among women, the proportion reaches 65.1 percent.

This disparity is also evident when broken down by race: while 69 percent of non-white women remain in the bottom 25 percent of the income distribution as adults, the share among white women is lower, at 52.9 percent.

Family background

The study also shows that children of parents who were in the bottom 25 percent of the income distribution have a 48 percent chance of remaining in the same group as adults. The chances of breaking this cycle are slim: only 8.32 percent move into the top 25 percent of the income distribution, and only 1.28 percent reach the country’s top 10 percent income bracket.

The situation for those born into higher-income families, however, is quite different. Young people whose parents belonged to the middle segment of the income distribution, between the 26th and 75th percentiles, have a 17.5 percent probability of reaching the top 25 percent of the income distribution in adulthood. Among children from families in the top 25 percent of the income distribution, 56.5 percent remain in the same stratum as adults, and 30.8 percent reach the top 10 percent.

Generations

The hierarchy of opportunities, according to the Atlas, has remained resilient over time. When comparing two generations-those born between 1983 and 1987 and those born between 1988 and 1990-the data reveal that, despite a slight increase in social mobility between the two groups, children’s chances of moving up the income distribution remain closely tied to their parents’ socioeconomic status.

Children of parents who belonged to the bottom 25 percent of the income distribution and were born between 1983 and 1987 had a 7.9 percent probability of rising to the top 25 percent as adults. Among those born between 1988 and 1990, this probability rose to 8.8 percent.

The same pattern holds true for children from middle-income families: the chance of moving into the top 25 percent of income earners rose from 16.6 percent to 18.6 percent, a small change that underscores the persistence of limited social mobility.

Regions

The Atlas analyzed the chances of social mobility for young people from low-income families in different regions of the country. The highest probabilities of upward mobility are concentrated in the South, Southeast, and parts of the Central-West. In contrast, much of the North and Northeast has the lowest rates of mobility, revealing areas where poverty tends to persist across generations.

The persistence of social disadvantages-where children from lower-income families are more likely to remain in the same income group-is most pronounced in municipalities in the North and Northeast regions.

The contrasts among Brazilian municipalities illustrate the magnitude of inequalities in opportunity. In Assis Brasil, in the state of Acre in the North region, 84.4 percent of young people from families in the bottom 25 percent of the income distribution remain in the same income group as adults-one of the worst outcomes in the country. In contrast, in Ponte Serrada, in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region, only 2.13 percent of young people remain in that income stratum, highlighting an environment much more conducive to upward socioeconomic mobility.

Education

Among the socioeconomic indicators included in the Atlas, education emerged as the dimension most closely associated with social mobility. Municipalities with better educational indicators-such as higher scores on the Basic Education Development Index (IDEB) and lower age-grade discrepancy-tend to offer greater opportunities for upward mobility.

“Social mobility depends on the ability to reduce inequalities rooted in people’s backgrounds. The Atlas shows that educational policies are fundamental, but they must be accompanied by economic strategies capable of expanding opportunities throughout life. Our goal is to provide evidence that helps policymakers design more effective policies to promote social advancement,” emphasized IMDS President Paulo Tafner.

Estimates of intergenerational income mobility were calculated using contemporary methods for measuring social mobility, administrative data from the Federal Revenue Service and the Ministries of Labor and Employment and Social Development, and household surveys conducted by Brazil’s statistics agency, the IBGE.

The full study is available at https://atlasmobilidadesocial.org.br/.

More than half of Brazilian women (54%) who have been in relationships with men reported having experienced some form of violence from them. However, only 11 percent of men who have been in relationships with women admit to having committed acts of violence against partners or ex-partners.

The results are included in the study 20 anos da Lei Maria da Penha: percepção da sociedade brasileira (“Twenty Years of the Maria da Penha Law – Perceptions of Brazilian Society”), conducted by the Patrícia Galvão Institute and the Locomotiva Institute, with support from Uber, released this Wednesday (Jul. 29).

Notícias relacionadas:

• Study shows persistence of violence against children in Brazil.
• Brazilian laws on violence against women drive long-term social change.
• Companies play key role in combating gender-based violence.

The study heard from 1,500 people aged 16 and older from all regions of Brazil in April 2026, and aimed to present an up-to-date picture of how Brazilian society perceives domestic and family violence.

“Violence against women in Brazil remains at alarming and rising levels. In 2025, the Women’s Assistance Hotline recorded more than 1 million calls – a 45 percent increase over the previous year – and 155,000 reports of violence, which amounts to 425 cases per day,” says Vera Vieira, the Patrícia Galvão Institute Institute’s executive director.

Vieira believes that the figures reveal not only the persistence of physical, psychological, sexual, and property-related abuse in the home, but also the challenges still faced in effectively protecting women, even two decades after the Maria da Penha Law was enacted.

The Maria da Penha Law, enacted on August 7, 2006, is considered one of the most important legal milestones in combating domestic and family violence against women in Brazil.

The main obstacle cited by women to reporting domestic and family violence is the sense of impunity, mentioned by 56 percent of the respondents. Next, the slowness of the justice system in handling such cases is cited by 39 percent.

In addition, the majority of women (77%) believe that men still do not recognize certain behaviors as violence, and 82 percent believe that many men turn a blind eye when faced with violence committed by other men. The type of violence women most frequently report having suffered at the hands of a partner or ex-partner is psychological (42%), followed by physical (25%).

When witnessing a situation of violence against women, women most frequently state that they would call the police or other authorities, while men more often mention direct intervention, with or without the use of force. Women’s police stations are the support channel most familiar to Brazilian women, mentioned by three out of every four women.

According to the organizations that conducted the survey, the results show significant progress driven by legislation, but indicate that gender-based violence remains a structural problem, and conclude that overcoming this situation requires coordinated action by the government.

Knowledge of the law

“The data show that the Maria da Penha Law is a well-established mechanism recognized by society as essential for the protection of women. However, the study also raises a red flag – the law, on its own, is not seen as sufficient to combat domestic violence,” said Maíra Saruê, research director at the Locomotiva Institute.

The study concludes that, after 20 years, the Maria da Penha Law is widely known in Brazil and that virtually the entire population is familiar with it or has heard of it. Half of women (49%) say they are very familiar with the legislation. Despite this, 82 percent of Brazilian women believe that, on its own, the law is not sufficient to effectively address the problem.

Seven out of 10 women feel that this law has a real impact on women’s lives, and more than half (54%) feel more protected by the law’s existence. For three out of four Brazilian women, the law makes them more aware of the risks of experiencing violence.

Most women believe that, before the Maria da Penha Law, there was greater impunity and less protection for victims – 81 percent believe that inaction in the face of violence and a lack of support for women were prevalent, while 64 percent consider that the punishments imposed on perpetrators were lenient.

This piece of legislation is spontaneously described by most Brazilian women as intended to protect women. Nine out of 10 women (88%) say they are aware of the law’s provisions for cases of physical violence, but less than half (46%) know that economic violence is included among the forms of violence covered by the law.

Eight out of 10 Brazilian women (83%) are aware of the emergency protective measures outlined in the law. However, awareness of property protection measures reaches only 38 percent of these women.

The survey director emphasizes that a significant portion of Brazilians still normalizes violent behaviors in relationships, especially those related to control and surveillance.

“This is quite concerning because, as the survey shows, psychological violence is the reality most frequently faced by women.”

Brazil remains off the Hunger Map. According to the interactive map developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), during the 2023–2025 triennium the country kept the prevalence of undernourishment below 2.5 percent. This is the maximum prevalence of undernourishment used by the FAO as the global benchmark for classifying a country as being off the Hunger Map.

The data are included in the report The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 (SOFI), released at FAO headquarters in Rome on Tuesday (Jul. 21) during the organization’s 30th Session of the Committee on Agriculture. They indicate that Brazil exited the Hunger Map for the second time in 2025. The first time was in 2013.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Brazil marks one year off Hunger Map, but challenges persist.
• Food prices decline, official inflation slows to 0.16% in June.

In a speech during the session, Brazil’s Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Fernanda Machiaveli, highlighted the country’s achievement. “These results remind us that hunger is not inevitable. When governments prioritize the fight against hunger, poverty, and inequality, it is possible to achieve concrete progress,” she stated.

José Graziano da Silva, founder of the Zero Hunger Institute (IFZ) and FAO former Director-General from 2012 to 2019, celebrated the country’s progress in reducing undernourishment and remaining off the Hunger Map. “The FAO report brings very good news for Brazil. Based on the indicator used - the prevalence of undernourishment - less than 2.5 percent of the population [is affected by hunger],” he said in an interview with Agência Brasil.

For more than 50 years, the official index used by FAO to monitor hunger worldwide has been based on the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) indicator. The PoU provides an estimate of the share of a country’s population that, given the distribution of income and the amount of food available, does not have access to sufficient daily calories to maintain a healthy life.

SOFI-2026 report

The report was prepared by five UN agencies and organizations: FAO itself, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Based on the global report, the director of the Zero Hunger Institute estimates that Brazil’s current prevalence of undernourishment is even lower. “When we look at the other data in the report, we can say that Brazil has a prevalence of undernourishment below 1 percent today - probably somewhere around 0.6 percent or 0.7 percent,” Silva calculated.

Severe food insecurity

The global report also noted that the prevalence of severe food insecurity in Brazil continues to decline, following the downward trend recorded by the organization. According to the data, 0.6 percent of the population - or 1.2 million people in the country - experience severe food insecurity, the lowest level on record.

The representative of the Zero Hunger Institute stressed that, despite the progress, Brazil still needs to take action to lift this population out of the vulnerability caused by food shortages. “More than 1 million people still face severe food insecurity in the country, as indicated by the report’s own data. That is a lot of people,” Silva warned.

The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) defines that people experiencing severe food insecurity have likely run out of food, experienced hunger, and, in the most extreme cases, gone an entire day or more without eating, putting their health and well-being at serious risk.

Moderate or severe food insecurity

The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity among Brazil’s total population was 9.6 percent in 2023–2025, affecting approximately 20.3 million people. In the three previous three-year periods, the prevalence was 13.3 percent (2022–2024), 18.4 percent (2021–2023), and 22.1 percent (2020–2022).

“The report shows that we have also managed to substantially reduce the number of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity,” Silva noted.

In her speech in Rome, Minister Fernanda Machiaveli highlighted the national progress that has enabled millions of Brazilians to improve their diets. In her view, combating hunger requires a comprehensive approach that combines increasing the population’s income; strengthening food security by expanding the supply of and access to healthy foods; and replacing ultra-processed foods with fresh, diverse, and healthy products.

“This integrated approach recognizes that access to healthy food depends not only on food availability but also on people’s purchasing power, the incentives provided to producers, and the way food systems are organized,” Fernanda Machiaveli pointed out.

The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) defines people experiencing moderate food insecurity as those who face uncertainty about their ability to obtain food and who, at times during the year, have reduced the quality and/or quantity of the food they consume due to a lack of money or other resources.

Cost of a healthy diet

The proportion of people unable to afford a healthy diet also declined in Brazil, reaching 21.1 percent of the population in 2025, or 44.8 million people.

Looking at the report’s historical data (from 2017 to 2025), the highest proportion of the population unable to afford a healthy diet was recorded in 2021, at 31.1 percent (65.3 million people). The figures show that 20.5 million people have since become able to afford a healthy diet.

“This is particularly important in a country where obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate, especially among children and adolescents,” Silva added.

The study indicates that the cost of a healthy diet in Brazil reached USD PPP 4.89 per person per day in 2025, expressed in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) dollars, up from USD PPP 4.69 per person per day in 2024.

The Brazilian average for 2025 was lower than the averages for South America (USD PPP 4.94) and Latin America and the Caribbean (USD PPP 4.91).

To determine this figure, FAO uses Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). This methodology converts local currencies into US dollars by adjusting for differences in the cost of living and also takes into account variables such as population size, income levels, and the average cost of a healthy diet. In this way, the unit of measurement used allows for comparisons of purchasing power across countries.

The Brazilian minister emphasized that food price volatility remains one of the greatest threats to access to healthy diets, especially among the most vulnerable populations.

She cited mechanisms to stabilize markets and ensure access to essential foods as ways to protect both producers and consumers, such as investments in food storage and public food reserves. “Making [non-perishable food] reserves available during periods of supply disruptions or excessive food inflation helps stabilize markets and keep essential foods affordable, especially for the most vulnerable populations.”

Pace of progress

The report highlights that, globally, progress in maternal and child nutrition remains slow and marginal, threatening the achievement of the international goals set for 2030.

Based on the most recent data, the report’s key indicators of concern for Brazil are:

• Low birth weight: 8.7 percent of babies (200,000) were classified as having low birth weight in 2020;
• Exclusive breastfeeding: less than half (45.8%) of infants - about 600,000 babies up to 5 months old - were exclusively breastfed in 2024;
• Severe child malnutrition: 3.4 percent of children under 5 years of age were severely underweight in 2024, amounting to about 500,000 children;
• Stunting: 8.9 percent of children up to 5 years of age (1.2 million) were affected by stunting in 2024.
• Overweight children: 10.9 percent (1.4 million) of children under 5 years of age were above a healthy weight in 2024;
• Adult overweight: 30.1 percent of the population over 18 years of age - or 48.7 million people - were overweight in 2024;
• Anemia in women: The report states that the prevalence of anemia among women of childbearing age (15 to 49 years) is worsening globally. In Brazil, the prevalence of anemia among women in this age group was 21.3 percent in 2023, affecting 11.9 million women.

A positive finding: While the average for the countries analyzed indicates that 30.8 percent of children aged 6 to 23 months worldwide consumed a minimally diversified diet in 2024, in Brazil, the percentage of children in the same age group who achieved minimum dietary diversity reached 63.3 percent, or 2.4 million children.