The data are part of the Brazilian Yearbook of Public Security 2020, released today, which indicated that homicide victims in Brazil had a 7.1% increase compared to the same period in 2019, despite the restrictions implemented by the pandemic.
Of the total number of homicides, about 2,500 corresponded to women murdered and more than 3,000 to civilian deaths during police operations, with the black population being the most affected, according to the Yearbook, which was analyzed today in a press conference by its authors.
In addition to collecting and analyzing statistical information on crime and violence in Brazil in 2019, the report, which was prepared 14 years ago by the Brazilian Public Security Forum, also included the figures for the first half of this year, due to the particularities that the pandemic of covid-19 created in the period.
According to the researchers, although the numbers have already shown an increasing trend of fatalities since the end of 2019, they expected “some stability” this year due to the pandemic.
In 2019, intentional deaths fell 18%, from 57,574 in 2018 to 47,773, but in the last quarter of last year drug-related murders increased in some regions of the country.
Added to this were the deaths caused by the increase in violence against women during the period of confinement against the virus.
“On the one hand, we have an end to the truce between criminal groups that is strongly reflected in the north and northeast of the country for drug trafficking. But we also have an increase in domestic and personal violence, which is evident in cases of femicide ”, said today the Forum’s executive director, Samira Bueno.
Throughout 2019, 1,326 femicides were registered in Brazil, an increase of 7.1% compared to 2018, the majority committed against black women by their partners.
In the first six months of 2020, 648 cases were accounted for, almost half of last year’s total.
According to Amanda Pimentel, one of the researchers at the Yearbook, the Government’s initiatives have not been sufficient to prevent and contain gender violence during the pandemic.
“While countries like France, Spain, Italy and Argentina have turned hotel rooms into temporary shelters for women in situations of violence – guaranteeing them protection and safe quarantine -, in addition to setting up counseling centers in pharmacies and supermarkets to report them. were made using ‘keywords’, in Brazil the same relevance was not given ”, he lamented.
The number of minors murdered in 2019 is another fact that worries investigators, since, according to the report, about 5,000 children and adolescents have violently lost their lives in Brazil, practically 10% of the total homicides that occurred last year.
In 2019, more than 66 thousand victims of sexual rape were registered – one every eight minutes -, mostly women (85.7%) and a large percentage of (60%) under 13 years old.
The analysis also revealed that deaths from police intervention grew 6% this year, from 3,002 in the first half of 2019 to 3,181 in the first six months of 2020, a paradox considering that, between April and May, the majority of Brazil’s population was in social isolation due to the pandemic.
According to the study, although in most homicides (91.2%) the victims are men, young blacks, between 20 and 29 years old, are the most affected, with more than 36% of cases.
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