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Percepção • Prevenção • Proteção • Defesa pessoal
Combatives • Protection, behavior and reality
Violence and Protection: Understanding Reality Before Conflict Begins
Violence does not necessarily begin with a strike. It may begin with control, intimidation, isolation, neglect, stalking or warning signs that no one chose to confront. Prevention requires more than technique: it requires awareness, information and the ability to make sound decisions.
01
This content was not created to exploit fear or sell the fantasy of invulnerability. It was created to examine a reality with real human, social and family consequences.
Overview
Violence extends far beyond the visible confrontation
Physical confrontations are only the most visible part of a much broader phenomenon.
Violence also occurs inside homes, schools, institutions, workplaces, family relationships, digital environments and seemingly ordinary everyday situations. It may take the form of physical assault, sexual violence, threats, stalking, humiliation, coercion, financial exploitation, abandonment, neglect or restriction of personal autonomy.
In many cases, a serious incident is preceded by a sequence of behavioral indicators: sudden changes in behavior, increasing control, isolation, invasion of privacy, destruction of property, inappropriate approaches, indirect threats or unexplained fear of a particular person.
The purpose of Combatives is to examine this reality without spectacle and without oversimplification. Protection is not merely about fighting. It is about observing, interpreting, communicating, avoiding danger, removing vulnerable people from risk and correctly activating emergency and protective systems.
Brazil in numbers
Recorded data that helps reveal the scale of the problem
The indicators below come from different systems and reporting periods. They should not be added together. Each figure represents records generated by a specific system and must be interpreted within its own methodological context.
Missing children and adolescents • 2025 66 records per day, on average
Brazil recorded 23,919 cases involving missing children and adolescents during 2025.
Ligue 180 • January to October 2025 877,000+ contacts handled
Approximately 2,895 contacts per day. A contact may involve guidance, information, referral or the reporting of violence.
Intentional violent deaths • 2024 44,127 recorded victims
This indicator combines categories of intentional violent deaths recorded by Brazilian public-security institutions.
Sexual violence • 2024 87,545 rapes and rapes of vulnerable persons
The figure represents officially recorded incidents. Underreporting means it cannot be treated as a complete picture of the true prevalence of sexual violence.
Femicides • 2024 1,492 approximately four per day
In a large share of cases, the perpetrator was the victim's current or former intimate partner.
Approximate daily scale
What annual figures look like when translated into everyday reality
Daily averages help communicate scale, but they do not mean that incidents are distributed evenly over time.
66
missing children and adolescents per day
Average based on 23,919 records involving missing children and adolescents in Brazil during 2025.
240
recorded sexual-violence incidents per day
Approximate average based on 87,545 recorded cases of rape and rape of vulnerable persons in 2024.
4
femicides per day
Approximation based on the 1,492 femicide victims recorded in Brazil in 2024.
Scale comparison
Different indicators measure different dimensions
This chart shows only the numerical magnitude of selected records. It does not imply equal severity, the indicators cannot be added together, and it does not replace the methodological analysis of each source.
A larger number does not necessarily indicate a higher real-world incidence. Reporting channels, recording criteria, underreporting and the period analyzed can substantially alter each indicator.
Magnitude of selected records
Figures shown for visual comparison only. Reporting periods and measurement units differ between categories.
Children and adolescents
A missing child requires an immediate response
The unexplained absence of a child or adolescent should never be treated as something that can simply wait.
23,919 records in Brazil in 2025
Not every disappearance has the same cause. Cases may involve family conflict, voluntary absence, running away, disorientation, accidents, violence, exploitation or other circumstances that require investigation.
The diversity of possible causes does not reduce the urgency. There is no requirement to wait 24 hours before reporting a missing person. When a child or adolescent is unexpectedly missing, law-enforcement authorities should be contacted immediately.
Recent information, a current photograph, clothing worn, usual locations, known contacts, medical conditions and the circumstances surrounding the last confirmed sighting can all assist the search.
Awareness
Sudden changes in routine
Isolation, fear, secretive new contacts, unexplained school absence or unusual behavior deserve attention.
Response
Report without delay
Immediate reporting preserves time, information, surveillance footage and opportunities to establish the person's location.
Violence against women
Severe violence may be the final stage of an escalating pattern
Control, stalking, humiliation, isolation and threats should not be dismissed as minor problems when they form part of an escalating pattern of abuse.
877,000+ contacts handled by Ligue 180 between January and October 2025
Violence against women may be physical, psychological, sexual, financial, reputational or digital. Many cases are preceded by increasing control over money, phones, movement, personal relationships and everyday decisions.
The number of Ligue 180 contacts is not equivalent to the number of individual victims. The same case may generate more than one contact, and the service also provides guidance, information about rights and referrals to protection services.
Even so, the volume of contacts illustrates the scale of demand for information, protection and assistance.
Sexual violence
Familiar surroundings are not automatically safe
The data challenges the assumption that danger always exists somewhere distant or is represented exclusively by strangers.
87,545 rapes and rapes of vulnerable persons recorded in 2024
According to the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook, 66% of recorded cases occurred inside residences, 77% of victims were under 14 years old and 88% were female.
These percentages reinforce the importance of responsible listening, safe channels of communication, attention to behavioral changes and protective responses that do not depend solely on the presence of visible injuries.
66%
of recorded incidents occurred inside residences.
77%
of recorded victims were under 14 years old.
88%
of recorded victims were female.
Older people
Abuse can sometimes present itself as care
Family proximity, caregiving responsibility or access to finances do not prevent abuse. In some cases, those are precisely the conditions that allow it to continue.
Older people may experience physical assault, psychological abuse, abandonment, neglect, withholding of documents, inappropriate administration of medication, financial exploitation, unauthorized loans and unjustified restrictions on personal autonomy.
In 2024, more than 960,000 violations of the rights of older people were recorded in data released by Brazil's Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship.
A single report may contain several violations. The number of recorded violations therefore does not correspond directly to the number of individuals or separate reports.
960,000+
violations of the rights of older people recorded in 2024. The volume reflects a reality that includes neglect, financial exploitation, psychological abuse and other forms of rights violations.
Threat recognition
Warning signs do not prove everything, but they can justify closer attention
A single indicator may have many explanations. Concern increases when changes recur, form a pattern or appear alongside fear, coercion and loss of autonomy.
01
Behavioral change
Isolation, unusual silence, anxiety, declining performance, sudden changes in routine or reluctance to encounter a particular person.
02
Progressive control
Restrictions involving money, phones, documents, medication, movement, friendships or contact with relatives.
03
Intimidation
Threats, stalking, surveillance, humiliation, destruction of property or increasingly aggressive displays.
04
Forced dependency
Creating barriers that make it more difficult to seek help, leave the environment, access resources or communicate privately.
05
Indirect disclosure
Requests for help may emerge in incomplete, contradictory or disguised ways. Confusion should not automatically cause a disclosure to be dismissed.
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Escalation
Increasing frequency, intensity or proximity of threats, particularly following separation, reporting or the aggressor's loss of control.
Layered protection
Physical confrontation is only one of the last available options
A responsible approach to personal protection operates in layers. The earlier a threat is recognized, the greater the range of options that may remain available.
1
Observe
Recognize changes in environment, behavior, approaches, patterns of control and indicators of escalation.
2
Assess
Avoid both automatic denial and premature conclusions. Consider repetition, intensity, access, opportunity and vulnerability.
3
Communicate
Listen carefully, document relevant information and reach the appropriate support, protection or emergency network.
4
Act
Disengage from danger when possible, protect vulnerable people and involve qualified professionals or competent authorities.
Emergency response, guidance and reporting are not the same thing
Choosing the correct channel can reduce delays and improve the response. When an incident is in progress or there is immediate danger, emergency services take priority.
190
Military Police — Brazil
Police emergencies, immediate threats, crimes or incidents currently in progress.
180
Women's Assistance Hotline — Brazil
Guidance, information, support and reporting related to violence against women.
100
Human Rights Hotline — Brazil
Reports of rights violations involving children, adolescents, older people, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
Important: Brazil's 100 and 180 hotlines provide guidance, reporting and referral services. In situations involving immediate danger, a crime in progress or the urgent need for police intervention, call 190.
Combatives principle
Responsible preparation does not begin by teaching someone how to fight. It begins by teaching them to recognize what is happening, understand the consequences and make decisions before their options disappear.
Transparency
Sources, criteria and limitations
- Brazil's National Public Security Information System — national records involving missing children and adolescents in 2025.
- Brazil's Ministry of Women — Women's Assistance Hotline, Ligue 180 .
- Brazilian Forum on Public Security — 19th Brazilian Public Security Yearbook .
- Brazil's Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship — Disque 100 data .
- Brazilian Federal Government — Human Rights Violations Reporting Service .
- Anatel — public utility and emergency service numbers .
Methodological note: the figures presented on this page represent administrative records, reported incidents, recorded rights violations or service contacts. They should not be added together. A single report may contain several violations, one service contact does not necessarily represent a different victim, and a significant share of violence may never reach official reporting systems. Data consulted and content reviewed in July 2026.