"Devotees in the Brazilian town of Salvador highlighted the sharp escalation of religious intolerance in the country, with reports suggesting crimes and violations linked to discrimination rising 80% in 2024. "I go out on the street wearing some religious beads, even a thin necklace [...[Someone came up behind me and started cursing me. This issue of religious racism is becoming increasingly intense," local Naiade Carneira remarked. "I myself have been a victim many times because of my Blackness. When arriving in certain places, we are treated differently because of our skin color," Our Lady of Rosary of the Black People priest Pai Lazaro Muniz added. Luizi Borges, a representative from Brazil's Ministry of Racial Equality, indicated that the states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Maranhao, as well as Bahia, where Salvador is located, are among those with the highest rates of religious intolerance. "In the last three years, we have had an increase of more than 124% in these reports. If we look from 2023 back to 2019, these reports were much lower, partly because we were under a government that had no interest whatsoever in recording such cases," she continued. Analysts argued that the rise can be attributed to a political climate that became increasingly hostile during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. According to the Human Rights organisations, there were recorded 3,853 cases nationwide last year, most targeting practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomble and Umbanda."