Out of Every Four People Murdered in Brazil, Three Were Black

By Xiu Ying, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This year’s edition of the Atlas of Violence shows that for every four people murdered in Brazil in 2017, three were black, according to Ipea data. The homicide rate for this group reached 43.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, while that for non-blacks closed the year at 16 per 100,000.

The Institute notes that, in this regard, there has been a deepening of racial inequality between 2007 and 2017, as the rate grew 33.1 percent for blacks and 3.3 percent for non-blacks. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, the homicide rate of blacks in Brazil grew by 7.2 percent.

In absolute terms, the country recorded 49,524 murders of blacks in 2017, an increase of 62.3 percent compared to 2007 and 9.1 percent over 2016. When considering non-blacks, the absolute figures fell by 0.8 percent to 2016 and rose by 0.4 percent in relation to 2007, closing 2017 with 14,734 deaths.

Daniel Cerqueira, a research coordinator, drew attention to the fact that inequality in crimes suffered by blacks and non-blacks is increasing.

“In Brazil, there is a scandalous inequality in lethality by race,” he said, affirming that this statistic is nothing new. “And this gap [between the numbers of murders on the graph] continues to widen.”

The study also showed that rates for feminicide (murder of women) grew above the national average in 2017.

The study carried out by the Institute of Economic and Applied Research (IPEA), and the Brazilian Public Security Forum shows that, while the overall homicide rate in the country increased by 4.2 percent in the 2017-2016 comparison, the rate accounting only for the deaths of women grew by 5.4 percent.

Nonetheless, the indicator remains significantly below the overall index (31.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), with 4.7 cases of deaths of women for each group of 100,000 inhabitants. It is still the highest rate since 2007.

In 28.5 percent of homicides of women, deaths occurred inside the home, which Ipea correlates to possible cases of feminicide and domestic violence.

Between 2012 and 2017, the institute reports that the homicide rate of women outside the home fell by 3.3 percent, while that of crimes committed inside the home increased by 17.1 percent. Between 2007 and 2017, the rate of women’s homicides by firearms inside the home also stood out, rising by 29.8 percent.

Ipea also shows that the homicide rate of black women is higher and faster growing than that of non-black women.

Between 2007 and 2017, the rate for black women grew by 29.9 percent, while the rate for non-black women increased by 1.6 percent. With this variation, the homicide rate of black women reached 5.6 for every 100,000, while that of non-black women was 3.2 per 100,000 at the end of 2017.

“Violence against women, in general, is on the rise but black women are being affected more intensively,” said Samira Bueno, executive director of the Brazilian Public Security Forum.

Statistical Blackout Regarding LGBTI

For the first time, Ipea has included in the Atlas data on violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transvestite and intersex populations. It is believed that the situation has worsened and that this group because of omission from the official data and statistics.

Data from accusations registered on Dial 100 (a crime reporting phone service akin to 911 in the U.S.) and administrative records from the Ministry of Health’s Notification Information System were used for the study.

“There is a genuine statistical blackout in Brazil regarding violence against the LGBTI population,” said Daniel Cerqueira.

The number of homicides reported to Dial 100 rose from 5 in 2011 to 193 in 2017. Bodily injuries increased from 318 in 2016 to 423 in 2017, with a peak of 783 cases in 2012.

According to Ipea, the increase is not due to the greater dissemination of Dial 100, since no similar behavior was found in data from other minorities that sought the service, such as the elderly, homeless, children and adolescents.

Data from the Ministry of Health show that between 2015 and 2016 the number of incidents of physical and psychological violence, torture and other forms of violence against bisexuals and homosexuals increased, most victims were single and female.

As for the perpetrators, 70 percent were male. In all, 5,930 cases of violence against the LGBTI+ population were reported.