Deforestation drivers in the Brazilian Amazon: assessing new spatial predictors.

Researches on the deforestation of the Amazon have gained prominence in the last recent years, mainly with the change in the policy regarding the facing of this phenomenon by the Brazilian government. Therefore, an understanding about the causes that pressure the occurrence of deforestation remains relevant and has a leading role in the world. Therefore, the aim of this study is to perform the analysis of the spatial variability of the reasons for the deforestation in the Amazon Biome, in Brazil, (2010-2019). To achieve this goal, 14 variables were selected, the choice and adjustment of the regression model were determined and a diagnosis was carried out in order to verify the most appropriate model. To achieve this purpose, a geographic database was structured in a geographic information system environment. The main results revealed that the adjusted R2 of the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was 0.96, that is, the GWR model explains 96% of the variations in deforestation. Therefore, it was observed a significant gain when using this model. In addition, it was also observed that the average variable of the number of oxen was, among those analyzed, the one that showed the highest correlation with deforestation. Thus, it was found that the livestock sector in southern Amazonia is the main economic agent that pressures large areas of deforestation, since stockfarming is practiced extensively. Finally, it was concluded that the municipalities with the largest areas of deforestation formed a cluster in the southern portion of the Amazon, in the arc of deforestation.

Factors Related to Rape Reporting Behavior in Brazil: Examining the Role of Spatio-Temporal Factors.

The reporting of rape to police is an important component of this crime to have the criminal justice system involved and, potentially, punish offenders. However, for a number of reasons (fear of retribution, self-blame, etc.), most rapes are not reported to police. Most often, the research investigating this phenomenon considers incident and victim factors with little attention to the spatio-temporal factors of the rape. In this study, we consider incident, victim, and spatio-temporal factors relating to rape reporting in Campinas, Brazil. Our primary research question is whether or not the spatio-temporal factors play a significant role in the reporting of rape, over and above incident and victim factors. The subjects under study are women who were admitted to the Women's Integrated Healthcare Center at the State University of Campinas, Brazil, and surveyed by a psychologist or a social worker. Rape reporting to police was measured using a dichotomous variable. Logistic regression was used to predict the probability of rape reporting based on incident, victim, and spatio-temporal factors. Although we find that incident and victim factors matter for rape reporting, spatio-temporal factors (rape/home location and whether the rape was in a private or public place) play an important role in rape reporting, similar to the literature that considers these factors. This result has significant implications for sexual violence education. Only when we know why women decide not to report a rape may we begin to work on strategies to overcome these hurdles.