POPULATION-BRAZIL: Violent Death the Domain of Young Men

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 27 2000 (IPS) - Policies intended to reduce violence in Brazil, as in many other countries, must focus on the young male population, urges a new study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Young men ages 15 to 24 are more likely than any other age group, male or female, to be the victims of assassinations, car accidents and suicides in Brazil, according to the UNESCO report, based on data from 1998.

The rate of violent deaths among this group is 82 percent higher than the rest of the Brazilian population, pointed out Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz, the sociologist in charge of the study “Map of Violence in Brazil.” Only Colombia, Kuwait and the United States report similar disparities.

UNESCO’s greatest concern is the loss of so many young lives. In Brazil, 35.1 percent of deaths among young people nationally are from homicide and other violent causes, with the rate jumping to 47.7 percent in urban areas.

But the sharpest imbalance is gender. Of a total 41,836 homicide deaths in Brazil in 1998, 8.3 percent were women. Among youth, the proportion is even lower, as just seven percent of homicide victims were female.

The UNESCO report also indicates that violence tends to be concentrated in Brazil’s state capitals and major urban areas, especially in the southeast, which is the wealthiest and most industrialised region.

“It is primarily an urban phenomenon,” and it is young men who most often kill and are the victims of killers, Waiselfisz said.

Several studies show that a life of crime begins in adolescence, as very rarely does a person begin committing serious crimes as an adult. Preventing violence thus requires special attention to the age group most at risk.

A global trend is also contributing to deepening urban violence: finding a job has become increasingly difficult. In Brazil, unemployment has reached alarming levels, especially among young adults.

>From 1989 to 1998 the number of Brazilian workers ages 15 to 24 who were unable to find jobs jumped from one million to 3.3 million, says Marcio Pochmann, researcher at the Centre for Labour Economy Studies at the University of Campinas.

This so-called youth unemployment shot up from 5.8 to 17.1 percent. While 2.3 million young people entered the labour market, there was a loss of two million jobs for that age group in the formal sector.

Older, more experienced workers are now competing for jobs traditionally performed by younger people, explained Pochmann, author of a book on the subject titled “The Battle for a First Job,” published in Brazil in June.

This period of rising unemployment in Brazil, attributed to the opening of the national market to more imports, and to the eruption of economic crises – both at home and overseas -, coincided with the expansion here of the illegal drug trade and urban crime.

With 26.2 deaths (not from natural causes) for every 100,000 inhabitants, Brazil is the fifth most violent on a list of 38 countries, after Colombia, Venezuela, Russia and Estonia.

At the other extreme are Spain and Ireland, where safety is underscored by just 1.2 deaths per 100,000, according to the World Health Organisation.

In addition to quantity, the rapid increase in homicide rates is particularly alarming.

>From 1989 to 1998, murders increased 45.5 percent among the general population and 51.7 percent among youth. For perspective, the Brazilian population grew 13.7 percent in that period.

The situation has hit a critical point, one that is difficult to reverse, acknowledged Gen. Alberto Cardoso, chief of the Cabinet of Institutional Security, a division of the government’s Executive branch.

The homicide rate averages 173.7 per 100,000 inhabitants among young men (ages 15 to 24) in the Brazilian capitals. At the top of the list is the most violent, Recife, capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco, where the rate reaches 255.7 homicide per 100,000 young males.

Because murders involve relatively few female victims, 10.5 per 100,000 in the capitals, the increase of such deaths among men contributes to a widening gender imbalance in the population.

Suicides are also on the rise here, though still relatively low as Brazil ranked 33rd among the 38 countries studied, according to the WHO. But the startling fact is that in 1998 the suicide rate was 56.9 percent higher than in 1989.

This is also a predominantly male problem. In Brazil, 80 percent of suicide deaths are men. Among the youth population, the male portion of suicides is 76 percent. The gender disparity increases with age, but people between the ages of 19 and 30 commit the vast majority of suicides.

Strangely, the southern region of the country, where homicide rates are lowest, reports the highest suicide rates – double the national average. Also, there is an inverse relationship evident as the three most violent Latin American countries – Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil – have relatively low suicide rates.

Gender disparity is also evident in deaths caused by traffic accidents, though age is not a significant factor. The ratio of male to female deaths from this cause is four to one in Brazil.