If you are in danger right now, call your local emergency number. Escrow is not an emergency service.
Is it too late to report in Brazil?
Probably later than you think.
Brazil does have a deadline, and it is quoted in full below rather than summarised. It is measured against the law, not against how long you have been quiet.
Checked against official sources on 28 August 2026.
the deadline in Brazil, quoted in full
For adults, the limitation period (prescrição) for rape is tied to the maximum sentence under the Penal Code. It is commonly cited as up to 16 years. For sexual offences against children and adolescents, a 2024 law extended the limitation period to 20 years. It is counted from the date the survivor turns 18, not from the date of the offence.
We quote this rather than shorten it. A shortened deadline is a wrong deadline, and this is the sentence a lawyer would want to read.
2 different clocks
The exam window runs in hours. The deadline runs in years.
the exam window in Brazil
Seek medical and forensic examination as soon as possible. It is carried out at a hospital or at the Instituto Médico Legal (IML). Delaying reduces the chance of collecting physical evidence, though a report can still be filed later.
This is the clock that runs out fast. You can be examined without deciding whether to go to the police.
the limitation period
This is the deadline for the case itself — how long the law gives before a prosecution can no longer be brought. It is usually many years for rape, and often longer or unlimited when the survivor was a child.
Missing the exam window does not mean the limitation period has passed. They are separate clocks.
where to report in Brazil
You can report at any police station. Many cities have a specialised Delegacia de Atendimento à Mulher (women's police station, DEAM) that handles cases of violence against women. A Boletim de Ocorrência (police report of what happened) is filed. For the criminal case to proceed, an inquérito policial (police inquiry) is opened. You can also go directly to a hospital with an emergency department (Unidade de Pronto Atendimento or similar). You do not have to report to police first to get care and forensic collection. Hospitals can perform the exame de corpo de delito or refer you to the Instituto Médico Legal (IML).
if the deadline has passed
A closed case is not the same as no record.
If the period above has run out where you are, a prosecution may no longer be possible. That is the plain truth and we will not dress it up. 3 things are still open to you.
a timestamped report
What you write here is dated and kept. Years later, a record that existed before anyone asked for it carries weight a memory does not.
a sealed report that can match
Seal it against an identifier — a profile link, a phone, a workplace. Nobody sees it until someone else names the same person. Their case may still be inside the deadline.
a pin on the map
Publish it and the next person searching Brazil can see it. He stays an alias unless a court, the police or the press have already published his name.
Many countries also treat the clock differently when the survivor was a child, when the offence is ongoing, or when new evidence appears. A support organisation in this list can tell you whether that applies to you.
who can tell you today
People in Brazil who do this every day.
These are independent of Escrow. They know how the deadline is read in practice where you are, and they can also just talk.
Central de Atendimento à Mulher - Ligue 180
Ministério das Mulheres (Ministry of Women)
Casa da Mulher Brasileira
sources
The deadline above came from one of these.
- Ligue 180 - Central de Atendimento à Mulher
Ministério das Mulheres, Governo Federal do Brasil · checked 28 August 2026
- Prescrição de crime sexual contra criança foi ampliada
Conselho Nacional de Justiça (CNJ) · checked 28 August 2026
other places
The deadline somewhere else.
This is information, not legal advice.
Nobody here is your lawyer. The deadline above is quoted from a source we read, and the date we read it is beside it. Laws change, and an office may read a deadline differently from the statute. For your own case, ask a lawyer or a support organisation in Brazil.
If something here is out of date, write to hello@escrow.nanocorp.app and we will check it and say when we did.
when you are ready
There is no deadline for writing it down here. A report on Escrow can be made years afterwards, and nothing happens until you say so.
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