Only 25% of cases of racial insults in Juiz de Fora reach the courts A teenager from Juiz de Fora spent months as the target of racist insults at school. According to her mother, beautician Kamilla Oliveira, a colleague made comments about the color of the student's skin and even called her a 'monkey' in front of other students. The case was registered by the Military Police (PM) as an infraction similar to the crime of racial insult, as the suspect is also a minor. ? Click here to follow the g1 Zona da Mata channel on WhatsApp "My daughter was devastated. She asked me: 'Mom, why did they do this to me?'. This cannot be treated as a normal situation," said Kamilla. According to the school, the case was handled with applicable pedagogical and disciplinary protocols. The teenager's story represents a reality that still faces obstacles in reaching justice. Data from the State Department of Justice and Public Security (Sejusp) show that, in 2025, 67 incidents of racial insults were recorded in Juiz de Fora. In the same period, only 16 new cases related to crime reached the Judiciary, equivalent to around 25% of the records made by the police. Furthermore, of the 16 cases initiated in 2025, 12 are still awaiting a decision from the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJMG). Why do some cases not become legal proceedings? Filing a police report is just the first step. For a case to become a criminal action, it is necessary to go through an investigation by the Civil Police, a complaint from the Public Prosecutor's Office and the receipt of the accusation by the Court. According to the president of the OAB Juiz de Fora Racial Equality Commission, Geovane Lopes, this path can mean that many cases do not progress to the judicial stage or take years to be concluded. "There is a lack of racial literacy among the people who deal with the cases. They cannot understand that it is a racial act and, therefore, the process is not qualified to become a conviction for racial insult. Sometimes, there is a lack of sufficient evidence because many of the acts carried out are done very privately, with the word of the victim against the word of the perpetrator." Since 2023, racial insults have received the same criminal treatment as the crime of racism. With the change in legislation, the crime became an unconditional public criminal action, that is, the investigation and process do not depend on the victim's will to continue. "The more people report it, the more police reports there are, the more people have racial literacy and look for lawyers who can help them build a minimum structure of evidence that achieves a good result, the greater the chance of us reversing this process of many complaints on one side and few convictions on the other." Santa Terezinha Civil Police Station, in Juiz de Fora Gabriel Landim/TV Integração Investigação According to the Civil Police, all records of racial insults are analyzed by the police stations responsible for the area where the crime occurred, as Juiz de Fora does not have a unit specialized in this service. The distance between registered cases and those that reach a judicial decision can generate a feeling of impunity and discourage new complaints. On the other hand, the increased demand for justice shows that more victims are willing to break their silence and seek accountability. "I'm not going to let a situation like this go by and normalize this for my daughter. We have to seek justice in the correct way so that this stops being normalized," said Kamilla Oliveira. MORE