The latest report on violence in Brazil proves a gloomy fact: Afro-Brazilian youths have a significantly higher risk of dying in violent circumstances. While the number of murdered youths among the whites has decreased, their share among the blacks has continued to increase. Murder is the most common cause of death among young people in Brazil.
Under the title "Murder and Youth in Brazil" the latest report on violence in Brazil has been published. The figures contained in it paint a frightening picture of the situation in Brazil: of 52 198 people who died in violent circumstances in 2011, 18 436 were young people aged between 15 and 24. In concrete terms, violent death is the most common cause of death for young people in Brazil - more often than road accidents or illness.
Violence is omnipresent
Although young people make up only about 18 percent of the total population, they account for 36 percent of the total homicide rate. 77 percent of the victims are Afro-Brazilian youths. While the number of murders of their white peers has decreased, the number of murdered black youths has increased significantly. Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz of the Centro Brasileira de Estudos Latino Americanos, which is behind the study, cites three causes of violence: the prevailing culture of violence, impunity and the fact that violence is accepted as normal. In many cases, public opinion is dominated by the view that the victims themselves are to blame for their deaths - for example, because women are said to have challenged the violence themselves or men are said to have been involved in drug stories.
Against the banalisation of violence
In northeastern Brazil, the programme region of terre des hommes switzerland, the
67 percent of all deaths of young people are caused by violence. The study clearly shows that our project partners there, such as the organization Grupo Comunidade Assumindo Suas Crianças (GCASC), are addressing a central issue in Brazilian society with their strategies for preventing violence and making an urgently needed contribution to breaking the spiral of violence. GCASC mobilises mothers of murdered youths and young people to take joint action against the trivialisation of violence.
