Northeastern capitals kill around 70% more young people than the city of Rio de Janeiro, which is often in the news with scenes of violence and shootings. The average of the nine northeastern capitals records a homicide rate for young people aged 15 to 29 of 165.4 per 100 thousand inhabitants, while the capital of Rio de Janeiro records 97.5 murders of young people per 100 thousand.
THE national homicide ratefor all age groups, was 22.8 per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2023, according to the Brazilian Public Security Forum. This rate is almost four times higher than the global rate. According to the UN, there are 5.8 homicides per 100,000 people in the world.
Next Sunday (6), voters in northeastern capitals will go to the polls amid extreme violence against youth. According to an expert consulted by Brazil Agencyalthough state governments have greater responsibility for public safety, city halls can and should act to prevent violence.
The coordinator of institutional relations at the Sustainable Cities Institute, sociologist Igor Pantoja, regrets that the majority of candidacies for mayor only focus on proposals to strengthen municipal guards, which are the security forces linked to municipal authorities.
“There are many things the municipality can do. It is the responsibility of the municipality to act to prevent violence. He can work in schools, in health units, with social assistance, and with the monitoring of socio-educational measures for children and adolescents in conflict with the law, which is a municipal responsibility”, he highlighted.
All nine capitals in the Northeast are among the deadliest in the country for young people. Of the twelve capitals with the highest homicide rate against young people aged 15 to 29, nine are in the Northeast.
The worst of all is the capital of Bahia, Salvador, where 332 young people are murdered for every 100,000 inhabitants. Recife comes next with 202 homicides per 100 thousand inhabitants. The data was systematized by the Sustainable Cities Institute based on information from DataSUS, from the Ministry of Health.
The northeastern capital with the best index is São Luís (MA), which occupies 15th position among the 26 capitals that go to the polls next Sunday (6). The capital of Maranhão records 120 young people murdered for every 100 thousand inhabitants.
To give you an idea, the city of São Paulo (SP) has a homicide rate for this age group of 7.7 young people per 100 thousand, ranking best in the ranking of the capitals. In Belo Horizonte (MG), 58.8 young people are murdered for every 100,000.
Social Assistance
Sociologist Igor Pantoja highlights that city halls tend to neglect monitoring young people in conflict with the law. “These young people have a very high rate of recidivism, of even worsening of the crimes that young people are committing”, he commented.
According to the expert, voters can demand more resources and investments for social assistance from municipalities as a way to combat violence in cities.
“When a family, especially women, goes to look for social assistance equipment, this equipment often fails to resolve the issues that the family presents, including issues with violence. It is necessary to hire more professionals in this area”, he stated.
Schools and health units are other spaces in city halls that voters can demand to carry out work to prevent violence.
“The identification of violence by social assistance, by health, by schools, is the gateway, let’s say, for you to be able to deal with this violence before it turns into a homicide”, added Igor Pantoja.
