Brazil

The plan for Action lacks of information on specific targets and timelines, particularly concerning children in street situations and children with disabilities. Brazil has no established mechanism at inter-ministerial level with a clear mandate and sufficient authority to coordinate and monitor all activities related to the cross-sectoral implementation of the Convention at all federal levels.

Death threats, physical attacks, disappearances and killings carried out against journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists are not investigated and convicted enough. Children’s participation in school councils is low, children do not regularly participate in decisions that affect them and their views are seldom taken into account.

Strategies aimed at eliminating discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation and race have been removed from the education plans of several states. Patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes underpin discrimination against girls and women. Despite the prohibition, high levels of sexual abuse of, and sexual violence against children in schools, institutions, and the family are reported, as well as this occurring in police stations and places of detention. There is a high prevalence of child marriage in the State party, even under the age of 16.

Children with disabilities are segregated in special education in several states and additional special schools are established. Widespread sexual violence, abuse and exploitation against girls with disabilities are common in institutional settings. There is a widespread presumption of children with disabilities that they lack credibility, so that they often have difficulties in accessing recourse.

Brazil has insufficient health service in rural and marginalized areas. Also, indigenous children continue to have inadequate access to medical services and sanitation, in overcrowded settlements, and continue to be subjected to contaminated water and food. There is a high prevalence of drug and substance abuse among children in street situations and an insufficient number of specialized rehabilitation facilities for children. Meanwhile, the Committee takes note of the State party’s initiatives for combatting drug abuse among children.

The Committee is concerned about high rates of suicide among indigenous children, particularly Guaraní children.

The Committee recommends to improve water supply infrastructure and guarantee access to safe drinking water, particularly for communities living adjacent to contaminated water canals used for the irrigation of farms. Also, the Committee recommends that the State party expeditiously end illegal mining activities, particularly in the Tapajós-Xingu area, and design and implement measures to mitigate the negative effects of these activities and those related to the construction of the Belo Monte dam on the rights of indigenous children and their families. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party conduct a comprehensive assessment of the effects of polluted air, water and soil on children’s health and use it as a basis for developing and implementing a strategy to remedy the situation, and monitor the levels of air, water and soil pollutants and of pesticide residues in the food chain.

The Committee is deeply concerned that activities of the mining and construction sectors, as well as of agribusinesses, food corporations and large-scale sporting and/or entertainment events, frequently result in the resettlement of communities without compensation or appropriate services, the contamination of water resources and food, unhealthy diets due to misleading advertisements, and environmental degradation. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of regulatory frameworks covering the social and environmental responsibility of business corporations and industries.

The Committee is concerned about reports of widespread torture and ill-treatment of children in police stations and juvenile detention facilities. Juvenile offenders should get regular trainings on children’s rights. There are reports of gang violence in prisons, which has led to the death of children, and of poor health and sanitary conditions. Brazil has an inadequate number of juvenile courts and specialized juvenile judges. Children are detained together with adults.
A very high number of extrajudicial executions of children by the military police and the widespread violence of police officers against children in favelas or street situations are violations of children’s rights.

Brazil has a low level of birth registration and birth certificates are not everywhere available for free.

It is alarming that children and families were evicted for the building of infrastructural projects for the 2016 Olympic games and the 2014 World Cup. That worsened their living conditions and caused severe disruption and hindrance to access to health services and education. Indigenous communities are also evicted from their land as a result of land grabbing by ranchers, the development of extractive industries, illegal logging or other industrial projects, which severely undermine indigenous children’s right to an adequate standard of living, health and a healthy environment.