Murders in Brazil are decreasing only for part of the population. The homicide rate of blacks in Brazil jumped 11.5% from 2008 to 2018 (from 34 to 37.8 per 100 thousand inhabitants), while that of non-blacks fell 12.9% in the same period (from 15.9 to 13.9 per 100 thousand), according to the Atlas of Violence 2020, released on Thursday (27).
The same pattern is repeated among women: the murder of black women has grown, and that of white women has fallen.
The study was prepared by the Brazilian Public Security Forum and by the Institute of Applied Economic Research with data from the Ministry of Health's Mortality Information System. The sum of blacks and pardos represents Blacks, and non-blacks are the white, yellow, and indigenous, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics classification.
Between the years 2008 and 2018, 628 thousand homicides were registered in the country, 91% men, 55% between 15 and 29 years old, and the peak of deaths at 21 years old. The Atlas found low education, with a maximum of seven years of study among the injured. The days with the highest incidence of crimes were Saturdays and Sundays.
Among the total deaths, blacks accounted for 75%. According to the Atlas, a discrepancy between races in homicide rates means that, in practice, for every white individual killed that year, 2.7 blacks were murdered.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon