‘Epidemic of violence’: Brazil shocked by ‘barbaric’ gang-rape of gay man

Activists fear that an increase in attacks on the country's LBGT community is fuelled by a culture of homophobia at the very top

An act of barbaric" violence where a 22-year-old gay man was gang-raped and tortured has prompted fierce reaction in Brazil and is evidence of a growing tide of hate crime in the country, according to human rights campaigners.

The man, who has not been named, was attacked last week in Florianopolis by three armed men who used sharp objects during the assault and forced him to carve homophobic slurs into his legs, said activists.