Brazil breaks record in number of homicides in 2016
The statistic covers robbery followed by death, homicides, and injuries aggravated by death.
Brazil reported 61.6 thousand violent deaths in 2016, according to a document entitled Brazilian Public Security Yearbook, published Monday (Oct. 30). The statistic covers robbery followed by death, homicides, and injuries aggravated by death. The amount is 3.8% higher than 2015, and represents the highest level ever registered by the country—the equivalent of seven murders per hour. The figure brought the rate of homicides in the country to 29.9 for every 100 thousand people.
Rio de Janeiro is the state with the highest number of victims (6.2 thousand), and reported the second most significant growth in the amount of cases—24.3% compared to 2015. A total of 37.6 homicides were reported for every 100 thousand people in the state.
The highest rate, however, was reported in the northeastern state of Sergipe: 64 homicides for every 100 thousand.
The sharpest rise was observed in Amapá, in the North—over 250 cases in 2015 to 388 in 2016, up 52.1%.
Violence against women
The document also includes figures specific for female victims. In 2015, a federal law was introduced mandating that gender-motivated murders against women should be treated as aggravated murder. In 2016, 533 cases were classified as such across the country, of them 96 took place in Rio Grande do Sul state.
Violent crimes against women totaled 4.6 thousand in 2016—an average of one murder every two hours. Rapes added up to 49.5 thousand, up 3.5% from 2015.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Brazil breaks record in number of homicides in 2016
