Brazil: The victims of violence in the country are 80% black

According to new research published in Brazil, almost 80% of young people killed in violence in the country between 2016 and 2020 were black. The same study showed that the number of children up to the age of four who died in episodes of domestic violence increased.

In addition, according to her research Unicef and his Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP) compiled on the basis of police reports from the 27 States of the country, 178,277 children and adolescents were victims of sexual violence between 2017 and 2020, ie five every hour.

About 80% of them were girls aged 10 to 14 years. Data for 2016 was not available for all States. During the period 2016-2020, 34,918 deaths of children and young people aged 0 to 19 were recorded in the country in violent incidents. Of that total, more than 31,000 were teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19, of whom 25,592, or 80%, black or mixed race, were mostly killed by fire.

“Unfortunately, this is not something new,” but evidence shows that “violence is affecting more and more young (black) teenagers,” she told AFP. FBSP Executive Director Samira Bueno. “There is no state policy for this group of young people who are often poor with a low level of education,” he said.

In terms of domestic violence, incidents of it killed 1,070 children aged 0 to 9 years during that period in Brazil, a number slightly reduced, but which hides the increase in deaths of children aged 0 to 4 years: 142 in 2020 compared to 112 in 2016. These figures are “a reflection of the Covid pandemic”, in homes in 2020, explained the Buenos Aires.

“Violence against children occurs mainly in the home. “Violence against teenagers on the streets, especially against young blacks,” she said. Unicef ​​in Brazil, Florence Boer in a press release. “It is vital that effective state policies are implemented to prevent and combat violence in Brazil,” he added.