‘Our life is pointless … ’: Exploring discrimination, violence and mental health challenges among sexual and gender minorities from Brazil

ABSTRACT

Worldwide, Brazil has the highest prevalence of violence and hate crimes against sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) among countries with available data. To explore the impact of this scenario, we conducted a qualitative study with 50 SGMs from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the participants, 66% screened positive for generalised anxiety disorder, 46% for major depressive disorder and 39% for PTSD. A third reported low self-esteem (32%) and one quarter low social support (26%). Experiences of interpersonal discrimination were highly prevalent (>60%), while institutional discrimination related to employment or healthcare was reported by 46% of participants. Verbal abuse is very common (80%), followed by physical assault (40%). Sexual violence is highly frequent among women. Focus groups analysis highlighted three major domains: (1) stigma and discrimination (family, friends and partners, in schools and health services, influencing social isolation); (2) violence (bullying, harassment, physical and sexual violence); and (3) mental suffering (alcohol and drug abuse, depression, suicidality, anxiety). Our findings suggest a close synergy between experiences of discrimination and violence with selected mental disorders. This complex synergy might be better addressed by longer-term individual and group-level interventions that could foster social solidarity among the different groups that comprise SGMs.

KEYWORDS:

• Brazil
• mental health
• violence
• LGBT
• gender minorities

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all participants who generously agreed to share their unique experiences and participate in this project. We would like to thank the pivotal support of the Brazilian National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA) and the Felipa de Sousa Women Group, who agreed to recruit participants and reviewed all study protocols.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics statement

The study was approved by Oswaldo Cruz Foundation IRB (CAAE 87564618.0.0000.5240) and supported by a pilot grant from Duke University.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Pilot Grant from the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University.