Brazil: Situation and treatment of sexual minorities, including legislation, state protection, and support services (2012-April 2016) [BRA105487.E]

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Situation and Treatment of Sexual Minorities

According to sources, homosexuality is legal in Brazil (The Globe and Mail 22 Jun. 2014; Pink News 2 Dec. 2007) and has been since 1823 (ibid.). Sources state that in 2013 the National Council of Justices passed a resolution mandating all notary publics to register same-sex marriages (CNN 15 May 2013; Human Rights Watch 2016, 134; The New York Times 14 May 2013). The New York Times reports that notary publics certify and carry out marriage ceremonies in Brazil, but that "many … have refused to comply for gay couples, a resistance that has been backed by some of the regional judges who oversee them" (ibid.).

The US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 states that social discrimination, especially against transgendered persons, "remained a problem" and violence against LGBT persons "remained a serious concern" (US 25 June 2015, 28). Freedom House similarly indicates that "[a]lthough Brazil has a largely tolerant society, violence against members of the LGBT … community continued during 2014" (Freedom House 2015). Newsweek, a global weekly news magazine and website (Newsweek n.d.), reports that while Brazil is known for "its huge gay pride parades … it also has one of the highest levels of violence towards [LGBT] people in the world" (11 May 2015). According to a news bulletin by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), homophobic and transphobic violence "remains rampant in Brazil" (UN 13 Feb. 2014).

According to a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center, a US-based "nonpartisan fact tank" that conducts opinion polling, demographic and content analysis research (Pew Research Center n.d.), 60 percent of respondents in Brazil agreed that "society should accept homosexuality," and 36 percent disagreed (ibid. 4 June 2013, 1). A 2014 study on legislation recognizing same-sex marriage in the Americas conducted by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), an academic institution at Vanderbilt University that carries out "surveys of public opinion in the Americas" (LAPOP n.d.), 45.5 percent of respondents in Brazil supported same-sex marriage (Maldonado 2 June 2015, 1).

1.1 Violence Against LGBT Persons

According to sources, in 2012 there were 315 (US 25 June 2015, 29) or 310 LGBT persons murdered in Brazil (Brazil 26 Jan. 2015). A 2014 report published by Micro Rainbow, an international NGO whose mission is "to create tools, programmes, and policy recommendations that enable LGBTI people to step out of poverty" (n.d.), cites data collected from both the Brazilian government and the Human Rights Helpline, Disque 100 (Disk 100) [1] in Brazil as stating that in 2012, there were "3,084 reports of 9,982 violations" against LGBT persons recorded by the helpline (Micro Rainbow International June 2014, 24). The majority of the violations were cases of "psychological violence and discrimination"; physical violence, including murder, was the second most prevalent human rights violation documented by the helpline (ibid.). According to a document submitted by the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN in Geneva to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, of the violations reported to the helpline in 2012, 82.2 percent were related to "psychological violence," 72.01 percent "impl[ied] some kind of open discrimination, such as denial of access to public spaces and other forms of segregation," and 32.68 percent reported physical violence (Brazil 26 Jan. 2015, 5).

Citing data collected by Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB), a non-profit LGBT human rights organisation based in the city of Salvador (GGB n.d.), the Micro Rainbow International report indicates that in 2013, 338 LGBT persons were murdered, 56 percent of which were gay men, 37 percent were transgender, 5 percent were lesbian, and 1 percent were bisexual (Micro Rainbow International June 2014, 26).

According to its 2014 report, GGB states that in 2014 there were 326 deaths of LGBT persons reported, including 9 suicides (GGB 13 Jan. 2015). Of the 326 dead, "163 were gay, 134 were [transgender], 14 were lesbian, 3 were bisexual, 7 were … known as t-lovers, or transvestite-lovers" and 7 were heterosexual men "who were mistaken to be gay or because they found themselves in homoerotic circumstances and/or … spaces" (ibid.). The same report further states that 50 of the murders happened in São Paulo state and 30 in Minas Gerais state, "however, in relative terms the states of Paraíba and Piauí and their respective capitals represent the highest risk level to be violently killed as an LGBT individual" (ibid.).

According to the 2014 GGB report, of those LGBT people killed, 107 were shot, 105 stabbed, 49 were killed by "beating, clubbing and stoning, 24 by hanging and suffocation"; there were also reported "cases of poisoning, charring, [and] intentional hit and run," and "in many cases torture was applied prior to carrying out the killings" (ibid.).

Human Rights Watch states that in the first half of 2015, the Brazilian Human Rights Ombudsman's Office received "522 complaints of violence and discrimination" against LGBT persons (Human Rights Watch 2016, 134). The Rio Times reports that between January and April of 2015, 356 complaints of violations of LGBT persons were reported to the Disque 100 (Dial 100) hotline (The Rio Times 18 May 2015). Further information on violence against LGBT persons, including statistics for the second half of 2015 and early 2016, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. State Protection
2.1 Anti-Discrimination Legislation

According to sources, there are no hate crime laws in Brazil (Latin Times 20 Apr. 2015; Global Post 13 Apr. 2012; Refugee Studies Centre Apr. 2013) that address homophobia (ibid.; Global Post 13 Apr. 2012). Sources further state that there is no federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation (Micro Rainbow International June 2014, 23; The Rio Times 18 May 2015; Doctoral candidate 24 Mar. 2016). Country Reports states, however, that "several states and municipalities have administrative regulations that prohibit such discrimination and provide for equal access to government services" (US 25 June 2015, 28). A 2013 article by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) [2] similarly states that rights afforded to LGBT citizens in Brazil "largely stem from local and state-based legislation and judicial decisions" (AS/COA 16 May 2013). The same source explains that

in 1989, the states of Mato Grosso and Sergipe approved constitutions that protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Bahia was the first state to pass anti-discrimination legislation to protect LGBT rights when the capital city of Salvador passed such a law in 1997. Dozens of cities and states across the country followed suit in the early 2000s, banning discrimination of gays and, in some cases, transsexuals. (ibid.)

According to a 2015 report on LGBT rights in Latin America and the Caribbean prepared by Dr. Javier Corrales, the Dwight W. Morrow 1895 Professor of Political Science at Amherst College, the following states have anti-discrimination provisions for LGBT persons: Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Federal District, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraíba, Piauí, Alagoas, Pará, Amapá, Golás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Maranhão, Paraná, Pernambuco, Sergipe, and Tocantins (Corrales 2015, 2, 19). In 2012, Forbes reported that in "several" states, including "Bahia, the Federal District, Minas Gerais, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo," employment discrimination on the "basis of sexual orientation is prohibited" (Forbes 25 May 2012).

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a doctoral candidate at the University of Campinas, specializing in the "collective identities in the Brazilian LGBT movement," stated that while some states have anti-discrimination laws, "they are not criminal (as only the Federal level can legislate criminal law in Brazil)" and that in São Paulo, for example, the law "cannot be used against individuals," only institutions and corporations (Doctoral candidate 24 Mar. 2016). The same source indicated that, should the company or organisation be found guilty of discrimination, "they have to pay a fee to the local government, and theoretically, the fee must be used to fight against homophobia in the state" (ibid.).

Sources state that conservative religious factions in congress have blocked the advancement of LGBT rights in Brazil at the Federal level (The New York Times 14 May 2013; Los Angeles Times 22 Mar. 2015; Micro Rainbow International June 2014, 23). According to sources, a conservative pastor known for having made homophobic remarks, was elected president of the Human Rights and Minorities' Commission of the Chamber of Deputies in 2013 (ibid.; The New York Times 14 May 2013; Mountian Mar. 2014, 8).

2.2 Implementation of Anti-Discrimination Legislation

Information on the implementation of anti-discrimination legislation at the state or local level was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. According to the report from the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN, in 2013 the "National System to Fight Violence Against LGBT People and to Promote LGBT Rights came into force" (Brazil 26 Jan. 2015, 3). According to the same source, the purpose of the system is to encourage "the creation of regional councils for supervision, regional plans and regional executive bodies that will coordinate efforts to prevent violence and punish perpetrators" (ibid.). The "core" of the National System "consists of a national network of councils on LGBT rights" composed of government and civil society representatives (ibid.). Further information, including the work and effectiveness of the regional councils, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2.3 Police Response

According to the 2014 Micro Rainbow International report, LGBT persons do not always report crimes to law enforcement officials due to fears of exposure or re-victimization by the police (Micro Rainbow International June 2014, 24). The 2014 GGB report states that the actual number of deaths of LGBT persons in Brazil "must certainly exceed the estimates" provided in the report, as "in more recent years … police officers and police inspectors have been increasingly and blatantly ruling out the possibility of homophobia being a factor in many of these killings" (GGB 13 Jan. 2015). Newsweek further indicates that violence against LGBT persons is compounded by a "police force that lets such violence happen with impunity, even on occasion within its own ranks" (Newsweek 11 May 2015). The same source reports on a case where a young man living on the outskirts of São Paulo was stabbed in the neck by his neighbour, allegedly for being gay; the police charged the neighbour with "grievous bodily harm," and "declined to bring the more serious charge of attempted homicide against his assailant" (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Country Reports 2014 states that in April 2014, Rio de Janeiro's state-run program "'Rio without Homophobia'" provided training on LGBT rights to 430 civil police officers in Rio (US 25 June 2015, 29). According to the report from the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN, the Brazilian government has cooperated with "States and municipalities to provide training and capacity building to security forces to deal with [homophobia] and transphobia" (Brazil 26 Jan. 2015, 3).

3. Support Services

Information on support services available to LGBT persons in Brazil was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. Without providing further detail, Country Reports 2014 indicates that there are two centers in São Paulo city, with a third under construction, that support "'victims of homophobia'" (US 25 June 2015, 29). The centers provide social support while informing "victims of their rights under the law" (ibid.). According to the 2014 report by GGB, there are "more than 300 active Brazilian LGBT" NGOs (GGB 13 Jan. 2015). The website of the Brazilian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transvestite and Transsexual Association (Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais, ABGLT) states that it is the "largest" LGBT network in Latin America, and that its national network in Brazil consists of "203 organisations," of which 141 are LGBT groups and the "remaining 62 are 'collaborating' organisations involved with human rights and AIDS" support (ABGLT n.d.). The same source indicates that its work focuses on monitoring federal government programs, combating AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, advocating for pro-LGBT legislation and budgets, and capacity building for legal professionals on LGBT issues (ibid.).

According to the doctoral candidate, there are "some" support services, such as LGBT centres that offer psychological and social support, though such services were described by the source as "very poor" and are known to operate under "precarious" conditions (24 Mar. 2016). The source further noted that there are a few of these centres active in all five regions of Brazil, however they are "far from being able to serve" the needs of their LGBT communities (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] According to the Rio Times, Disque 100 [also Disk 100 (Micro Rainbow International June 2014, 24)] (Dial 100) is a "confidential national hotline" which takes complaints on human rights violations and is operated by the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of Brazil (The Rio Times 18 May 2015).

[2] The AS is a "forum dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue in the Americas" and the COA is an "international business organization" dedicated to "economic and social development, open markets, rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere" (AS/COA n.d.).

References

Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA).16 May 2013. Rachel Glikhouse and Mark Keller. "Explainer: LGBT Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean." [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016]

Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA). N.d. "About AS/COA." [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016]

Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais (ABGLT). N.d. "ABGLT." [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016]

Brazil. 26 January 2015. Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations Office in Geneva. Correspondence to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. No. 31/2015. [Accessed 18 Mar. 2016]

Cable News Network (CNN). 15 May 2013. Marilia Brocchetto. "Brazilian Judicial Council: Notaries Must Recognize Same-sex Marriage." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2016]

Corrales, Javier. [2015]. LGBT Rights and Representation in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Influence of Structure, Movements, Institutions, and Culture. [Accessed 15 Mar. 2016]

Doctoral candidate, University of Campinas. 24 March 2016. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Forbes. 25 May 2012. Kenneth Rapoza. "Brazil Close to Outlawing Discrimination Against Gays." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

Freedom House. 2015. "Brazil." Freedom in the World 2015. [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]

Global Post. 13 April 2012. Alex Pearlman. "Rights Group: One Gay Brazilian Murdered per Day." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

The Globe and Mail. 22 June 2014. Matthew Sherwood. "Canada: a Safer Haven for LGBT Refugees." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB). 13 January 2015. Grupo Gay da Bahia's Annual Report / 2014: LGBT Persons Killed in Brazil. [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]

Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB). N.d. "What is the GGB." [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]

Human Rights Watch. 2016. "Brazil." World Report 2016: Events of 2015. [Accessed 15 Mar. 2016]

Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). N.d. Vanderbilt University. "LAPOP." [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016]

Latin Times. 20 April 2015. Cedar Attanasio. "420 Day in Brazil: Why LGBT Rights are a Focus of Weed Celebration." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

Los Angeles Times. 22 March 2015. Vincent Bevins. "Homophobic Attacks Increase in Seemingly Gay-Friendly Brazil." [Accessed 18 Feb. 2016]

Maldonado, Arturo. 2 June 2015. LAPOP, Vanderbilt University. AmericasBarometer Topical Brief: Same-Sex Marriage Resonates Most Strongly with Young People in the Americas. [Accessed 15 Mar. 2016]

Micro Rainbow International. June 2014. LGBT People Living in Poverty in Rio de Janeiro. [Accessed 16 Mar. 2016]

Micro Rainbow International. N.d. "Vision & Mission." [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016]

Mountian, Ilana. March 2014. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. A Critical Analysis of Public Policies on Education and LGBT Rights in Brazil. [Accessed 17 Mar. 2016]

Newsweek. 11 May 2015. Oscar Lopez. "Behind Brazil's Gay Pride Parades, a Struggle with Homophobic Violence." [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]

Newsweek. N.d. "About Newsweek." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

The New York Times. 14 May 2013. Simon Romero. "Brazilian Court Council Removes a Barrier to Same-sex Marriage." [Accessed 17 Mar. 2016]

Pew Research Center. 4 June 2013. The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries. [Accessed 17 Mar. 2016]

Pew Research Center. N.d. "About Pew Research Center." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

Pink News. 2 December 2007. "Brazilian President Calls National LGBT Conference." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

Refugee Studies Centre. April 2013. Henrique Rabello de Carvalho. "LGBTI Refugees: the Brazilian Case." Forced Migration Review. Issue 42. [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016]

The Rio Times. 18 May 2015. Chesney Hearst. "International Day Against Homophobia Raises Issues in Brazil." Accessed 18 Mar. 2016]

United Nations (UN). 4 May 2015. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Discrimination and Violence Against Individuals Based on their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. A/HRC/29/23. [Accessed 18 Mar. 2016]

United Nations (UN).13 February 2014. United Nations Development Programme. Angela Pires. "Transgender Visibility: The 'AIDS Tchê' Initiative in Brazil." [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]

United States (US). 25 June 2015. Department of State. "Brazil." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014. [Accessed 17 Mar. 2016]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Centro Latino-Americano em Sexualidade e Direitos Humanos; Lawyer, member of LGBTI Rights Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association; Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of São Paulo; Professor, Center for Gender Studies, University of Campinas.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; ARC International; Centro Latino-Americano em Sexualidade e Direitos Humanos; ecoi.net; Factiva; Gay Star News; GLADD; Global Gayz; ILGA; LGBTQ Nation; OutRight International; United Nations – Refworld; United States – The Law Library of Congress.

Associated documents