‘Barbaric’ Violence As Gay Man Brutally Gang-Raped By 3 Men In Brazil

A 22-year-old gay man in Brazil’s southern Santa Catarina state was gang-raped and tortured last week in what human rights activists described as a "brutal" and "barbaric" act of violence amid a growing tide of hate crime in the country.

The victim, who was not named, was assaulted in the state's capital city of Florianópolis by three men armed with sharp objects who forced him to carve homophobic slurs into his legs, The Guardian reported, citing the activists. He was then left in the street, where he was later found before being taken to a hospital.

The man is now recovering at home, according to the report. Police chief Verdi Furlanetto told The Guardian they are investigating the attack, but no arrests have been made yet.

"This is a frightening crime but it’s very common in Brazil, and violence - not only against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people but also women, black people and immigrants - is worsening," said Association in Defence of Human Rights president Lirous Ávila.

Ávila, whose organization helps victims of violence in Florianópolis, is supporting the family of the victim. She explained that news of the attack — which broke out during pride month — had triggered a huge but divided reaction across Brazil.

Some people were shocked, while others justified the assault because of the man's sexuality, according to Ávila. "It’s absurd to justify violence that is brutal and barbaric," she said.

Margareth Hernandes, a lawyer based in Florianópolis and president of the gender law commission, said violence against LGBT people in the country has grown recently.

"Brazil is the world champion of LGBT murders. We are a very conservative country where there is still a lot of prejudice. Hate speech ends up propagating violence," she said.

At least 237 LGBT people died in situations of violence in 2020, according to Grupo Gay da Bahia, the oldest LGBT rights organization in Latin America. A report by Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, showed that the national Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office received 1,134 complaints of violence, discrimination and other abuses against LGBT people between January and June 2020.

Both Hernandes and Ávila attributed this trend of rising violence partly to the attitude of Brazil's leadership.

"We have a president who compounded this violence,” said Ávila, referring to President Jair Bolsonaro, a self-described "proud homophobe."

"It seems that the population feels it has a right to commit these violent acts against the LGBT population, influenced by Bolsonaro," she explained.