Prayer of lament over violence against women in Brazil

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/11/americas/brazil-women-girls-domestic-violence-rape-intl-hnk/index.html

Lord God Almighty, we are stunned to hear the findings released Tuesday by non-governmental organization Brazilian Forum of Public Security. We know you see and know of these horrors for women in Brazil, but we want to acknowledge them before you. We want to pause from our somewhat secure lives and lay these facts about Brazil before you:

·        Four girls under 13 are raped every hour.

·         Every two minutes police receive a report of violence against women.

·         Femicides -- when a woman is murdered for being a woman -- increased by 4% last year on the previous year.

·         In 88% of those cases, the perpetrator was the woman's partner or former partner.

·         Over 263,000 women suffered serious injuries at the hands of their partner.

·         The country saw the largest ever number of reported rapes, and almost 54% of the victims were girls under 13 years old.

·         Each year, thousands of cases are not properly investigated.

·         In 2017, 23 shelters for victims of domestic violence were closed in Brazil due to budget cuts.

We need your help. We need your intervention. We need a change of culture in Brazil. We need domestic violence to become unacceptable. We need the president to speak words that edify, rather than denigrate, women. Heavenly Father, despite all this ugliness, this sin, this suffering, we do still declare our trust in You. We humbly ask, please do a great work in Brazil on behalf of women and girls, that their suffering may be relieved. Work through women, men, leaders, regular citizens, organizations, the government, your church—through us! We praise you as the God Who Sees. In Jesus’ name, amen.