Violence Against LGB+ people in Brazil: analysis of the National Health Survey, 2019

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the association between self-reported sexual orientation and violence in the Brazilian population. Methods: Cross-sectional epidemiological study using the 2019 National Health Survey database. Total violence and its subtypes (psychological, physical, and sexual) in the last 12 months were analyzed. Prevalence and Adjusted Odds Ratio by age group were estimated, with their respective 95% confidence intervals, according to self-reported sexual orientation of the population over 18 years in Brazil. Statistical significance of 5% was considered. Results: The Brazilian population report themselves mostly as heterosexual (94.75%), and 1.89% declaring themselves LGB+. This percentage was lower than that of respondents who refused to answer the question (2.28%). The prevalence of violence in Brazil was 18.27%, the most common subtype being psychological violence (17.36%). The LGB+ population was more than twice as likely to experience any type of violence. LGB+ women had the highest prevalence of all subtypes of violence and heterosexual men the lowest. LGB+ women were more than three times more likely to experience physical violence compared to heterosexual women. Meanwhile, LGB+ men were almost eight times more likely to experience sexual violence than heterosexual men. Conclusions: Violence against the LGB+ population was highly prevalent in the country. Public Policies aimed at this population are necessary so that prejudice against sexual diversity is faced and it is possible to guarantee the rights of non-heterosexual people.