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Sexual violence against children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: data from 2020 at a reference service in the State of Pará

OBJECTIVES: To analyze epidemiological data of children and adolescents who suffered sexual violence in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to characterize the victims and, thus, to know the magnitude of the injury, to support the planning of care, treatments and monitoring of these and their families, promoting enhancement, improvements and planning for the future and, consequently, enabling benefits for the service itself, for professionals included in it and, mainly, for those who use them. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, analytical and descriptive epidemiological study, with data collected from the care records of victims referred to the reference service or who attended by spontaneous demand, including children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years. RESULTS: The study sample consisted of 712 children and adolescents. We found a higher rate of sexual violence against females (86%) aged between 12 and 14 years; the psychology service was the most active; the State capital held the largest number of registrations (54.8%); as for agents of sexual violence, the male aggressor totaled 97.8%, being 91.5% family acquaintances and, 72.8% belonging to the family nucleus, the main aggressors were boyfriends/partners (intra-family) and neighbors (extra-familial); the rape of the vulnerable affected 55.9% of the victims. CONCLUSION: The social isolation established during the epidemic provided a more favorable condition for the occurrence of acts of violence within the home. During the pandemic, there was a reduction in reports of violence against children and adolescents, however, not necessarily a decrease in cases of violence.