The Epidemiological Profile of Sexual Violence Notifications in the Capitals of the Northeast of Brazil: An Ecologic Time Series

This study aimed at outlining the epidemiological profile of the notifications of sexual violence in the capitals of the Northeast of Brazil. It is a descriptive, analytical, and ecological study, made with the information about sexual violence recorded at SINAN (the Information System of Health Problem Notifications). The nine capital cities of the Northeast of the country were selected, and data from them was analyzed from 2012 to 2014. The depending variables were notifications of sexual violence and rape. Independent variables included sex, age group, educational level, and race. For a statistical analysis, the Chi-squared and Fisher\u27s exact tests were used when the expected frequencies were below 5. The statistical treatment of variables was done using the R software. Regarding the results, 6811 sexual violence cases were notified in the capitals. Most of them took place in Recife (31.2%), Teresina (16.5%), and Aracaju (13.3%). In most cases, the victims were females, children or adolescents, and brown. Most victims had less than eight years of study. The city with the most notifications of rape was Recife. The results show the association between socioeconomic factors and sexual violence, outlining a profile of the victims of this type of violence in the capitals of the Brazilian Northeast. A high prevalence of sexual violence was found in the investigated cities