Salvador has the worst juvenile homicide rate among Brazilian capitals

Salvador has the worst homicide rate for young people between 15 and 29 years of age among all Brazilian capitals, with 322.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. At the other extreme is São Paulo, where around 7.76 young people in this age group die for every group of 100 thousand inhabitants. The data, which shows great inequality between Brazilian capitals, is in the Inequality Map, which was presented this Tuesday (26), in São Paulo, by the Sustainable Cities Institute.

When commenting on the data from the Inequality Map, the general coordinator of the Sustainable Cities Institute, Jorge Abrahão, highlighted the capital of Bahia, which faces “a very serious problem of police repression”. According to Abrahão, the degree of police lethality is very high in the state.

“Repression often affects young black people in large Brazilian cities.” Abrahão recalls that, for the United Nations (UN), a city or country that has more than 10 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants is considered a city or country in civil war. “This demonstrates the seriousness of this problem in Brazil”, highlighted the coordinator of the Sustainable Cities Institute.

In addition to the worst position among Brazilian capitals on the issue of juvenile homicides, Salvador appears in last position when considering the population below the poverty line – 11% of the inhabitants of the city of Bahia – and the unemployment figures. The unemployment rate in Salvador is 16.7%. The lowest is Campo Grande: 3.4%.

The Inequality Map is an unprecedented work, which compares 40 indicators from the 26 Brazilian capitals on topics such as income, health, education, housing and sanitation. The study demonstrates and reinforces the enormous inequality that exists across the country, highlighting that even the capitals with the best performance in the 40 indicators are not ideal models for the country.

“It is important to say that these data do not characterize the equality or inequality of a city, but they show the differences that exist between Brazilian capitals”, emphasized Abrahão. According to him, even though Curitiba appeared in first place in the performance ranking among Brazilian capitals, this does not mean that it is an “egalitarian city”, nor is it a guarantee that there is no inequality within the cities.

Women in politics

The survey also highlights difficulties common to all Brazilian capitals, such as female representation in politics. “We have 658 mayors in Brazil, which is around 12% of the total number of city halls in the country[5568Whenwecomparethisdatawith52%oftheBrazilianpopulationwhichismadeupofwomenweshowthechallengeswehavewithpoliticalrepresentationinourcountry”saidAbrahão[5568Quandocomparamosessedadocom52%dapopulaçãobrasileiraqueéformadapormulheresmostramososdesafiosquetemosderepresentaçãopolíticanonossopaís”disseAbrahão

“This is a manipulated portrait of an unfinished democracy and falsified by the systematic exclusion of social majorities in our country, including the right to participate in decisions and the formulation of public policies that impact their lives,” said Michelle Ferreti, co-founder of the Institute Alziras.

Michelle stated that women constitute the largest population group in the country. “It is the poorest group, with the lowest income, most unemployed and with difficult access to the world of work and politics,” she added.

According to her, this data that presents female representation in politics shows “a portrait of absences”.

“If we look at the council chambers, since this is an election year, we have a picture of absences. We are talking about only 16% of seats occupied by women in the country’s council chambers. And, if we look at this same data with a racial perspective, we are talking about 6% of seats occupied by black women in council chambers”, highlighted Michelle.

Fairer cities

The Map of Inequality between Brazilian capitals is one of the actions of the Program for Strengthening Civil Society and local governments to promote and build more fair, egalitarian, democratic and sustainable cities in Brazil, which was also launched this afternoon. This program is based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are global goals that are part of the 2030 Agenda, a pact signed by 193 member countries of the United Nations (UN).

“The project was built by several hands within the scope of the ODS Strategy Network, a coalition that brings together organized civil society, the private sector, subnational governments, local governments and municipal entities”, explained the coordinator of Sustainable Cities, Zuleica Goulart. The initiative by the Sustainable Cities Institute is part of a three-year project, which has the general objective of promoting economic, equitable, sustainable, participatory and inclusive development in Brazil, she explained.

The program aims to develop and build tools and methodologies for action in Brazilian municipalities, helping the country to meet these global goals. “With the project, we hope to influence both political articulation and qualify this debate. We also want to work on expanding the technical capabilities of municipalities”, explained Amanda Vieira, representative of the National Front of Mayors and Mayors (FNP).

All data from the Inequality Map between Brazilian capitals can be consulted free of charge at this website site.