Child Abuse

Brazil Federal Union and the states have their own court systems, which follow the same civil procedure. There is no civil jury system in Brazil the Brazilian Statute of the Child and the Adolescent defines that, for legal effects, the minor with twelve years of age is considered a child. An adolescent is a person aged between twelve and eighteen years. Brazil is organized as a federal republic with a civil law system. Under the Brazilian Civil Code, married parents have equal rights of custody to their minor children. In Brazil, children as young as 5 years old were shackled and forced to work 16-hour-days in inhumane conditions of mines and factories. Cruel overseers frequently goaded these little children with whips and prods. Child Abuse is a growing issue in the United States, South America, Africa and Asia. In India one study reveals that approximately one-half of all children have been sexually abused. In Brazil 25% of all children are abused, according to one news report. Child Abuse also comes with consequences that produce life long scars. There are many types of child abuse that affects a person physically, emotionally, sexually, and mentally. The statistics states that in Brazil, 67% of abused children are less than one year old, while 80% are less than three years old. If a person is abused as a child it usually affects their adulthood, because more than likely a child that was abused will become an abuser.

Last year, in Brazil the government barred the employment of children under age 14 as domestic servants or in hotels, restaurants or small teashops because children were often subjected to physical violence, mental trauma and sexual abuse. Brazil, children represent a population of 50,266,176 inhabitants and statistics related to them are very depressing with respect to maltreatment, sexual exploitation and child labor, among other crimes. Exploitation and sexual abuse represent the major problem for children. February, 1997 to January, 2003,