Almost 500 elderly adults are daily victims of violence in Brazil – Ministry report

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Some 480 elderly adult victims of violence in Brazil were rescued daily in October by authorities, in an operation conducted since mid-month across the country, reported Friday the government of Jair Bolsonaro.

During the operation, which spanned 35 days, some 17,000 people were helped, 444 abusers were arrested and 1,067 protection measures were issued. The results are from Operation Vetus II, coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety in partnership with the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, with the direct involvement of the Police.

The authorities relied on telephone reports made by the victims themselves or by witnesses to the events, through a free channel set up by the government to this end, known as Disque 100 (Dial 100), to rescue the elderly. In total, 15,154 complaints were handled in over 2,300 municipalities in the country last month.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, among the main types of violence recorded were false imprisonment, torture and abandonment. Among the complaints, there were also cases of elderly people starving due to lack of food and appropriation of their pensions.

Of Brazil’s 213 million inhabitants, some 30 million are over 60 years of age (14%), according to data from the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).