A first-of-its-kind poll reported by Folha de S.Paulo on Tuesday (15) shows that 64% of Brazilians support allowing a girl under 14 who becomes pregnant through rape to choose a legal, safe abortion in a public hospital. Only 16% are opposed.
Ipsos-Ipec ran the survey in March for the Instituto Patrícia Galvão, a women's rights group, together with the campaign Criança Não é Mãe ("a child is not a mother"). It heard 1,200 people across the country, all of them online. As of this report, Folha was the only outlet publishing the numbers, and the material does not state a margin of error. Because data collection was online only, the sample leaves out Brazilians without internet access.
What Brazilian law allows
Abortion is legal in Brazil in three situations: when the pregnancy results from rape, when the woman's life is at risk, and in cases of fetal anencephaly, allowed by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in 2012. The rape exception has been in the Penal Code since 1940. The procedure is free through the SUS, Brazil's public health system, and settled Supreme Court rulings hold that no judicial authorization is required.
The survey was taken in a country where sexual violence falls mostly on children. Of the 87,545 rapes registered in 2024, 60% of the victims were girls under 14, according to Brazilian Public Security Forum data reported by Folha; counting girls aged 14 to 17, 69.7% of the victims were minors. The Forum's 2025 yearbook, the source of those figures, shows a 6.7% rise over 2023, one victim every six minutes, and 76.8% of cases classified as rape of a vulnerable person, the crime covering victims under 14 or unable to consent. Independent coverage by Poder360 confirms that 65.7% of the assaults happened inside the victim's home. Forum executive director Samira Bueno said the figures represent "a silent epidemic that repeats itself daily, especially against children, often inside the child's own home".
A public health matter, not a religious one
Half of the respondents said abortion should be debated by health authorities; 19% named the legislature and the courts, and only 3% mentioned religious institutions. Large majorities said victims should get immediate psychological care (89%) and information on preventing sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy (72%). Folha also reports that most respondents reject forcing the girl to carry the pregnancy to term in order to give the baby up for adoption. Access to information remains uneven: a study by the NGO Plan International, cited by the newspaper, found that only half of the girls who became pregnant before 14 after rape were told about their right to a legal abortion.
Anyone needing care can go to any SUS emergency room or basic health unit; treatment is free and confidential and does not require a court order. Reports of sexual violence against children and teenagers can be made through the Disque 100 hotline, and the 180 line serves women facing violence.