While Brazilians Represent 3% of the World Population, They Commit 10% of the Murders

In just three weeks in 2015, Brazil had more homicides than all of the deaths in terror attacks recorded worldwide in 2017. The data is part of a report released Monday titled “Violence Atlas.”

According to the report, Brazil was responsible for 10 percent of all murders in the world in 2015. Young Black males accounted for a majority of those deaths.

With the number of fatalities surpassing 59,000 that year alone, the homicide rate in the country reached an exorbitant 29 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

Daniel Cerqueira, a researcher at Brazil’s Institute of Applied Economic Research, pointed out that for every 100 victims, 71 are Black.

“Why doesn’t Brazilian society become more conscious, why doesn’t the Brazilian state become more aware and allocate more resources, like other countries do, to address the terror?” he asked.

In the same breath, he responded, “We live in a very unequal society, one that still harbors a racist history and the people who die are young and black.” He added that most victims have received poor education and are residents of periphery neighborhoods in “large urban centers.”

Cerqueira concluded that this combination of factors breed deadly results for the black community. “There’s a true license to kill in Brazil as long as, obviously, it doesn’t occur in the noble streets of the cities.”

Meanwhile, Samira Bueno, president of the Public Security Forum, noted that it’s possible to change this scenario with proper public planning.

“As much as we’re facing a financial crisis, this does not depend only on resources, it involves coordination, which can begin today. And if the tragedy of 60,000 people murdered every year in Brazil is not prioritized, it ends up having an economic impact on the development of the country,” she said.

Violence Atlas shows that Black female victims face a 22 percent increase in mortality while other races present a 7 percent reduction.

On March 30, Eduarda Maria, a 13-year-old student athlete who attended the Daniel Piza Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro, was fatally shot by police. A video of the police raid also showed the moment two military police shot two men who were already injured and lying on the ground.

The report also demonstrates that some Brazilian states present a significant increase in the deaths of black people. Alagoas, for example, has a black homicide rate 11 times higher than any other ethnic group.

teleSUR

Tags:

You May Also Like

The protesters' banner accuses Doria of being an enemy of the women

Women in the Streets Against a Brazilian Mayor with Presidential Ambitions

In Brazil, a group of women have been protesting at the city hall in ...

Brazilian army at favela Maré - Tomaz Silva/ABr

Other Violent Brazilian Cities May Be Taken Over by the Army like Rio

Brazilian leaders said that the use of the military to combat rising violence in ...

Slavery in Brazil by German painter Johann Moritz Rugendas, Voyage Pittoresque Dans Le Brésil

In Brazil, Legacy of Slavery Lives On with Subservience, Violence and Slave Labor

Brazil abolished slavery 130 years ago, but its society has failed to deal with ...

A municipal health worker and an environmental military police officer carry the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine to an Indigenous hut in Manaus, Brazil. - REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

Pastors in Brazil Telling Amazon Indians Covid Vaccine Will Turn Them into Alligators

Medical teams working to immunize Brazil’s remote indigenous villages against the coronavirus have encountered ...

Brazilian congressman Jean Wyllys - Photo by Mídia NINJA/Wikipedia

Citing Death Threats, Gay Congressman Leaves Brazil to Undisclosed Country

A prominent gay congressman in Brazil announced that he was leaving his job and ...

Baby monkey with Awá women - Photo by D Pugliese/Survival

After Massacre Amazon Indians from Brazil Appeal to the World for Help

Brazilian Indians have appealed for global assistance to prevent further killings after the reported ...

Lula carried on shoulder of fans before being jailed - Ricardo Stuckert

Brazil’s Top Electoral Court Kills Lula’s Presidential Ambitions

Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has voted to ban former President Luiz Inácio Lula ...

Brazilian children at school at lunchtime.

In Brazil, a Rush to Understand the Suzano School Massacre

Brazilian Elementary School Kids Daily Life: Always the same routine. Going hungry for at ...

Pedro Mura, from the Mura tribe, reacts in front of a deforested area inside the Amazon rainforest - REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Through Green Land Grabbing, Farmers in the Amazon Steal from Indians and Trick the Law

As global demand for food commodities has swelled, so has the practice of “land ...

Rio's Favela da Rocinha watched by a military helicopter - Photo: Agência Brazil

It’s Time We Call the Killings of Blacks in Brazil by Its Proper Name: Genocide

Genocide, as defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment ...