A most violent year: Brazil murder toll hits record 63,800
Gang crime and domestic violence fuel homicide tally ahead of presidential election
Murder rates in Brazil rose by 3.7% to a record 63,880 killings last year, according to a new study released in the run-up to a presidential election dominated by the issue of violence.
So what is behind the nation’s steadily increasing homicide rates?
The director of the independent Brazilian Forum of Public Security (BFPS), which gathered the new data, said the problem had “been exacerbated by antiquated laws and police procedures and the growth in organised crime”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The numbers show we have a serious problem with lethal violence,” continued Renato Sergio de Lima. “We have two persistent phenomena: violence against women and criminal gangs dealing in drugs and arms.”
Serious crime has flourished in the absence of capable policing, with few murderers ending up in jail and authorities focusing on repressing criminals rather than on preventing and tackling the root causes of crime, The Guardian reports.
With little government action to give deprived youth hope for the future, “a culture of ultra-violence has set in”, says news site Americas Quarterly. Torture and decapitation of members of rival gangs is commonplace and, indeed, often celebrated in music and on social media.
But deadly force comes from both sides of the criminal justice system. The new BFPS report says that an average of 14 people die at the hands of police officers every day, according to The Guardian.
Meanwhile, violence against women has skyrocketed in recent years, with almost a third of women claiming to have suffered such abuse, The New York Times reports.
Brazil has the “seventh-highest rate of femicide in the world, with 4.4 murders per 100,000 women, according to a 2012 Brazilian survey called the Map of Violence”, the newspaper says.
And only around a quarter of women who suffer violence report it to the police.
“There are many reasons - stigma, economic dependence or concern for children,” explains Maria Laura Canineu, the Brazil director of Human Rights Watch. “But often, it’s the conviction that the state won’t do anything.”
The police force’s lack of resources and training often means that perpetrators do not face any repercussions, Canineu adds.
Crime is expected to be a key voter concern in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election, in October.
The candidates include far-right lawmaker Jair Bolsonaro and jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants to “loosen gun laws and toughen up policing to tackle the rise in violence”, according to Reuters. Bolsonaro has a similar stance on policing, and has said that he would give officers “carte blanche” to kill suspects who fire on them.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Chicken with Steph's spice
The Week Recommends This Caribbean-inspired recipe is mouthwateringly delicious
By The Week UK Published
-
A peaceful seaside village in Turkey
The Week Recommends Çıralı has been spared the 'scourge' of all-inclusive resort development
By The Week UK Published
-
Tax plans spell trouble in the North Sea
Talking Point Labour’s tax plans are whipping up a storm. Are the worries of opponents justified?
By The Week UK Published
-
Iwao Hakamada: Japan's record-breaking death row prisoner
Under the Radar Former boxer spent 46 years condemned to execution but his retrial could clear his name
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How strawberries are funding crime in Sweden
Under the Radar Police say illegal fruit sales turn over 'billions' of kronor a year for gangsters
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
France's 'swinger' capital rocked by fortune teller scandal
Under the Radar Mayor charged with corruption for 'lavishing' taxpayers' money on clairvoyant who 'impersonated' his dead father
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Trump hush money trial: what has the jury heard?
Today's Big Question Former loyal fixer Michael Cohen proves star witness for prosecution, but Stormy Daniels's graphic testimony could offer grounds for appeal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Weinstein's appeal: a blow to #MeToo
Talking Points Is 'shocking' reversal of symbolic conviction a sign of weakening movement?
By The Week UK Published
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Sydney mall attacker may have targeted women
Speed Read Police commissioner says gender of victims is 'area of interest' to investigators
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published