PeNSE
Most sexual violences occur in family context, points PeNSE 2024
March 25, 2026 10h00 AM | Last Updated: March 26, 2026 10h03 AM
Highlights
- 18.5% of students reported having experienced a situation in which someone touched, manipulated, kissed or exposed parts of their body against their will.
- Among the abusers named by the students were: another person (24.6%), other family members (24.4%) and an unknown person (24.0%).
- The percentage of students aged 13 to 17 years who were forced to have sexual relations was 8.8%.
- 26.6% of students reported that they had suffered sexual violence from other family members.
- Sexual violence was evident in all the Brazilian regions, with the highest prevalence being recorded in the North Region (11.7%).
The 5th edition of the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE), carried out in 2024 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MS) and the support of the Ministry of Education (MEC), brought data that draws attention to the vulnerability of girls to sexual violence and bullying. The survey interviewed students aged 13 to 17 years, from public (84.3%) and private (15.7%) networks who are between the 7th and 9th year of Elementary School and the 1st to 3rd year of Secondary School.
In 2024, 18.5% of schoolchildren reported having experienced a situation in which someone touched, manipulated, kissed or exposed parts of their body against their will at some point in their lives. This type of violence was most reported by girls, as 26.0% of them have experienced this situation of harassment at some time in their lives. This percentage is more than double that recorded for boys (10.9%).
The comparison with the 2019 results showed that there was a 3.8% increase in the percentage of students aged 13 to 17 years who had ever suffered sexual harassment, the variation being more pronounced for girls (5.9%) and public-school students (4.2%). Sexual harassment situations were most reported by teenagers aged 16 and 17 years (20.9%) and in the 13 to 15 age group the percentage of those who experienced this situation was 17.1%.
Among the abusers named by the students were: another person (24.6%), other family members (24.4%) and an unknown person (24.0%). The categories of boyfriend (girlfriend) and friend were mentioned by 21.2% and 20.4% of students, whose percentages represented relative losses of -7.9 p.p. and -4.4 p.p.
Sexual violence in the family context
In addition to the increase in sexual harassment, PeNSE results also recorded an increase in cases of students who were forced to have sexual relations against their will. In 2024, the percentage of schoolchildren aged 13 to 17 years who were forced to have sexual relations was 8.8%, which represented a relative increase of 2.5 p.p. compared to 2019.
Girls and public-school students were those who most reported this type of violence, 11.7% and 9.3%, respectively. Although the percentages of sexual violence were slightly higher for older teenagers compared to the 13 to 15 age group (9.7% versus 8.2%), it is important to highlight that the 1.1 million teenagers who reported having suffered this type of violence were minors.
Sexual violence was evident in all the Brazilian regions, with the highest prevalence being recorded in the North Region (11.7%). The highest percentages of teenagers’ victims of sexual violence were found in the states of Amazonas (14.0%), Amapá (13.5%) and Tocantins (13.0%).
In cases of sexual violence, 26.6% of students reported that they had suffered this type of violence from other family members, followed by an unknown person (23.2%). The boyfriend/girlfriend was identified as the abuser by 22.6% of students.
Another relevant aspect highlighted was the diverse pattern of abusers in different locations across the country. The boyfriend/girlfriend was mentioned as an abuser by 30.0% of students in the state of Paraná. In the state of Paraíba, 20.6% of students named their friend as the perpetrator of sexual violence. With regard to the category father, mother, stepfather, stepmother, the highest percentage was found in the State of Tocantins (14.7%).
Other family members were identified as the abusers by 34.5% of students in the state of Goiás. In Piauí, 31.2% of students said that the abuser was an unknown person. Finally, in Pará, 26.9% of victims indicated another person as the person who committed sexual violence.
The survey showed a very serious situation: among the 1.1 million teenagers who were forced to have sexual intercourse against their will, the majority (66.2%) were 13 years old or younger when this happened. The states of Piauí and Pará had the highest percentages of teenagers who suffered this type of violence under the age of 13 years (75.8% and 73.5%, respectively).
