Brazil is living in a situation of war, a Social War, according to United Nations special advisor Jean Ziegler. It's as if France, Germany and Somalia were living in the same country! Ziegler continued, And while police are important for security, they are not the solution to the problems of hunger, lack of health care, lack of schools and lack of citizenship. In a country with such a striking disparity between rich and poor, Ziegler comments, the temptation to steal is understandable when one has absolutely nothing. Despite the fact that one Brazilian authority called this declaration irresponsible and ridiculous, the facts are hard to dispute. According to UN guidelines, a country with over 25,000 assassinations per year is considered in a state of war, and last year, according to the Ministry of Justice, Brazil registered well over 40,000 assassinations.
In the metropolitan area of Sco Paulo, whose population is estimated between 17–20 million, residents are afraid to go out at night. The number of kidnapings has increased 400%. From 1985–1997, homicides have increased 76%, unemployment has risen 18.6% and the number of people living in precarious or totally inadequate housing (or the streets) has grown 50%. Three neighborhood health posts in the city of Sco Paulo closed their doors last week after receiving anonymous phone calls threatening the clinics. Even without the alarming number of assassinations, this data indicates at minimum, a social crisis, if not the social war that Ziegler describes.
The Map of Inclusion/Exclusion of the city of Sco Paulo, a comprehensive study collecting information from governmental and university sources addressing social inclusion and exclusion, violence, health, education, housing, children and adolescents, hunger work, unemployment and the informal economy, speaks to the epidemic of violence. Violence is not only an effect, but also a cause of the increase in tension and inequality in the city. The population lives in constant fear, and the tension caused by the police only augments this fear.
Almost one-third of all residents in the city of Sco Paulo now believe that violence is the greatest problem in the country today. This public perception of violence has a strong psychological impact on the population. Public space, in other words, is identified more and more with violence, danger and abandonment.
Exacerbating the dramatic increase in violence is a continued complete lack of confidence in public security and government officials. A recent study by the newspaper Folha of Sco Paulo revealed that 59% of the residents of this city of Sco Paulo have more fear than trust in the police and security forces. Controlling violence and restoring a sense of public security is practically impossible when daily headlines show the narcotics police (DeNarc) commandeering the drug traffic in a part of the city known as Crack-land (so called for the quantity of crack cocaine that passes through this area) or the military police being indicted for protecting drug lords and helping identify potential victims to kidnap.
The governor himself publicly declared, there are only 2 places for criminals- jail or the grave, and while the public security budget (which includes the police forces) has increased 107%, violence, if anything, has also increased. In the month of January, the police in Sco Paulo officially killed 84 people—as if the words of the governor freed them to shoot more indiscriminately.
Seeing as the budget continues to skyrocket, the violence only increases, one questions if anyone is thinking beyond traditional means. It is way past time to think creatively. Human beings have the capacity to split atoms, write operas, sculpt a David, and yet, in the face of increasing violence, the only response is to build more jails. In business, when one sees that her/his product has a 30-40% success rate, one closes the factory. And yet, society not only accepts this rate from the prison industry and police forces, it offers more money to produce more of the same product.
Violence is neither a necessary evil nor an inevitable part of urban life. However, as long as the principal solution is to pour more money into what already does not work, the system will continue to do no more than band-aid an already desperate situation. Alternatives to prison sentencing like probation and community service must be utilized, and with the money not spent on housing and controlling that inmate, budgets for daycare, education, health and job training can be increased. Literacy courses, secondary education and job skills training must be a part of every sentenced inmate's options for a chance at a different life after release. Laws against torture, domestic violence and political impunity must be applied As a model of citizenship, the police forces, both military and civil, must be held accountable and corruption and violence within the police forces must be eradicated. Clearly, more training, more ongoing support and continuing education are a means to this end. Only then, will they earn the trust of the general population. Finally, making the education and formation of today4s children a first priority will open the possibility of a different future for them... of a different future for all of society.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Study shows ‘favelization’ of Brazil
A recent study released by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) shows the favelization (an increase in the number of favelas, or shanty towns) of the country.
According to the study, Brazil now has 3,905 favelas, an increase of 22.5% since the 1991 Census. Nearly 40% of these favelas (1,548) are in the state of Sao Paulo, where the number increased 22% since 1991. The greatest increase in favelas, however, was in the state of Para, which had a 418.5% increase (from 27 to 140). Following is the state of Paraiba with a 224% increase (from 25 to 81).
According to the preliminary results of the 2000 Census, there was a marked increase in the urban population—81.2% of the population now live in cities—especially in metropolitan areas. There was a very rapid growth in urban population and not one state government prepared for this. Not economically, not by increasing jobs, not by creating housing policies, said sociologist Alba Zaluar.
Later this year, IBGE will release its estimate of the number of people living in favelas.
According to the study, Brazil now has 3,905 favelas, an increase of 22.5% since the 1991 Census. Nearly 40% of these favelas (1,548) are in the state of Sao Paulo, where the number increased 22% since 1991. The greatest increase in favelas, however, was in the state of Para, which had a 418.5% increase (from 27 to 140). Following is the state of Paraiba with a 224% increase (from 25 to 81).
According to the preliminary results of the 2000 Census, there was a marked increase in the urban population—81.2% of the population now live in cities—especially in metropolitan areas. There was a very rapid growth in urban population and not one state government prepared for this. Not economically, not by increasing jobs, not by creating housing policies, said sociologist Alba Zaluar.
Later this year, IBGE will release its estimate of the number of people living in favelas.
Urban Planning for Rio de Janeiro's ‘Favelas’
The city government of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second largest city, is carrying out what it says is a successful urban development programme to provide slum-dwellers with basic infrastructure and services—including, for the first time, something as simple as postal addresses.
By 2004, half of the people currently living in marginalised areas of Rio de Janeiro will have benefitted from the programme, especially through improvements to the favelas (shanty-towns) that line the hills ringing the city, said Municipal Secretary of Housing Jorge de Oliveira Rodrigues.
By improving living conditions for one million local residents by 2004, Rio de Janeiro is thus making progress on its contribution to the Cities Without Slums Action Plan launched last year by the World Bank. The Plan is one of the issues for discussion at the United Nations Millennium Summit, in New York, Sep 6-8.
In his report to the Summit, UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, urged for support for the Plan to improve living conditions for 100 million slum-dwellers worldwide by 2020 but did not put a price tag on the initiative.
Two million of the city's residents—slightly over one-third of the total—live in the so-called informal city made up of hundreds of favelas, slums and run-down housing complexes, and lacking the infrastructure, services and rights enjoyed by the rest of the population.
The Programme of Urbanisation for Popular Settlements (slums) is gradually remedying that inequality. Its chief component, the 'Favela- Neighbourhood' project, is to benefit 80 percent of the nearly one million people currently living in favelas in Rio de Janeiro.
Roads and highways improving access to the favelas, sewerage systems, city squares and other public recreational spaces, areas for practising sports, childcare centres and schools, and the provision of clean water and electricity are among the works that have had the greatest impact.
But the mere straightening up of the narrow, winding streets of the favelas to allow the passage of traffic and the assigning of street numbers to housing units have also been important steps, providing local residents for the first time with a postal address—essential for them to feel like full citizens and to obtain loans or other services.
The changes have curbed the power of drug traffickers in the favelas, because new lighting, streets through which traffic can pass, and the formal numbering of housing units and assignation of postal addresses are all enemies of the underworld and crime, pointed out a local community leader in one shanty-town.
The Favela-Neighbourhood is a good project in favour of the poorest of the poor, as it boosts their self-esteem and integrates them into the city, said Jorge Wilheim, former under-secretary general of the United Nations Habitat Conference in Istanbul in 1996 and former Sao Paulo secretary of planning.
However, reducing poverty requires policies aimed at income generation and training, he added, noting that projects of this kind should be accompanied by economic and fiscal measures, aswell as efforts to make credit available.
Another goal of the Millennium Summit, according to Annan's report is fo r the more than 150 heads of state and government to agree on a target of cutting in half the number of poor people (those whoscrape by on less than a dollar a day) in the world—currently representing 22 percent of the global population—by 2015.
Favela-Neighbourhood began to be implemented in 1994. Over the years it has incorporated new areas, such as an adult literacy drive, vocational training, the organisation of workers' co-operatives, courses in computers and other activities that generate jobs or income, said the director of the programme, Andrea Cardoso.
These activities, which were previously carried out in a separate but parallel manner, became components of the programme after the second contract for financing was signed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is providing 60 percent of the funds, or 300 million dollars in each of two stages.
The first IDB loan went towards works in 56 favelas. The second , which was recently granted, will be used to improve conditions in 73 shanty-towns.
Other programmes are also underway, such as one that focuses on small favelas of up to 500 households, and another aimed at legalising property ownership and extending title deeds to families living in shanty- towns that are home to a combined 600,000 people.
The Secretariat of Housing estimates that all the efforts combined will have improved the living conditions of at least one million people by the year 2004.
The current policies were adopted after a lengthy debate, and after several previous attempts to resolve the problem of the favelas and other precarious housing fell flat.
In the 1960s, the mass transfer of entire communities to housing complexes built far from the city centre merely ended up creating new hotspots of poverty and violence.
Later, the idea of transforming the favelas themselves into proper neighbourhoods, rather than moving their inhabitants elsewhere, slowly beganto take hold. But efforts were limited to timid investments and isolated actions, such as installing a few sewerage systems, said Cardoso.
In 1993, a master plan was drafted, outlining an integrated programme based on new concepts of urban planning as part of public policies, she explained.
No longer did authorities see the problem as a shortage of housing, but as a deficit of urban planning, since the housing units existed, and the real problem was that they lacked water, electricity and other services, said under-secretary of Housing Antonio Augusto Verssimo.
What is needed is to build ‘city’, not houses; to stretch the city to excluded areas, Rodrigues added.
Respect for the social rights of residents of poor neighbourhoods increased when the state recognised that they had made significant investment in building their homes and providing the favelas with certain services. That recognition served as the foundation for justifying public investment in urban development efforts.
Favela-Neighbourhood is a programme of the city, not of any party or the government, and its continuity is ensured through a four-year contract with the IDB independently of whether or not Mayor Luiz Paulo Conde is re-elected in October, said Rodrigues.
The project has enjoyed the support of several political forces, including opposition parties, he pointed out. Rodrigues also underlined that local communities are lobbying hard to be included in the project.
If that continuity is confirmed, by around 2020 Rio de Janeiro will be in a position to increase its participation in the Cities Without Slums Action Plan twofold, extending the project to all people living in overcrowded shanty-towns and other precarious housing.
For the process of urban development of those areas, the methodology followed is important, as is public investment. In that sense, Rio can offer other cities and countries the know-how accumulatedby experience, including the lessons learned from our errors, saidCarlos Fernando Andrade, president of the Institute of Brazilian Architects.
It is a good example, but not a model that can be reproduced without addressing the specific conditions of each city. The Favela-Neighbourhood project, for example, is not active in homes, but in public spaces, preventing the eviction of slum-dwellers. And even in Rio there are dangerous areas whose inhabitants must be transferred, Andrade pointed out.
By 2004, half of the people currently living in marginalised areas of Rio de Janeiro will have benefitted from the programme, especially through improvements to the favelas (shanty-towns) that line the hills ringing the city, said Municipal Secretary of Housing Jorge de Oliveira Rodrigues.
By improving living conditions for one million local residents by 2004, Rio de Janeiro is thus making progress on its contribution to the Cities Without Slums Action Plan launched last year by the World Bank. The Plan is one of the issues for discussion at the United Nations Millennium Summit, in New York, Sep 6-8.
In his report to the Summit, UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, urged for support for the Plan to improve living conditions for 100 million slum-dwellers worldwide by 2020 but did not put a price tag on the initiative.
Two million of the city's residents—slightly over one-third of the total—live in the so-called informal city made up of hundreds of favelas, slums and run-down housing complexes, and lacking the infrastructure, services and rights enjoyed by the rest of the population.
The Programme of Urbanisation for Popular Settlements (slums) is gradually remedying that inequality. Its chief component, the 'Favela- Neighbourhood' project, is to benefit 80 percent of the nearly one million people currently living in favelas in Rio de Janeiro.
Roads and highways improving access to the favelas, sewerage systems, city squares and other public recreational spaces, areas for practising sports, childcare centres and schools, and the provision of clean water and electricity are among the works that have had the greatest impact.
But the mere straightening up of the narrow, winding streets of the favelas to allow the passage of traffic and the assigning of street numbers to housing units have also been important steps, providing local residents for the first time with a postal address—essential for them to feel like full citizens and to obtain loans or other services.
The changes have curbed the power of drug traffickers in the favelas, because new lighting, streets through which traffic can pass, and the formal numbering of housing units and assignation of postal addresses are all enemies of the underworld and crime, pointed out a local community leader in one shanty-town.
The Favela-Neighbourhood is a good project in favour of the poorest of the poor, as it boosts their self-esteem and integrates them into the city, said Jorge Wilheim, former under-secretary general of the United Nations Habitat Conference in Istanbul in 1996 and former Sao Paulo secretary of planning.
However, reducing poverty requires policies aimed at income generation and training, he added, noting that projects of this kind should be accompanied by economic and fiscal measures, aswell as efforts to make credit available.
Another goal of the Millennium Summit, according to Annan's report is fo r the more than 150 heads of state and government to agree on a target of cutting in half the number of poor people (those whoscrape by on less than a dollar a day) in the world—currently representing 22 percent of the global population—by 2015.
Favela-Neighbourhood began to be implemented in 1994. Over the years it has incorporated new areas, such as an adult literacy drive, vocational training, the organisation of workers' co-operatives, courses in computers and other activities that generate jobs or income, said the director of the programme, Andrea Cardoso.
These activities, which were previously carried out in a separate but parallel manner, became components of the programme after the second contract for financing was signed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is providing 60 percent of the funds, or 300 million dollars in each of two stages.
The first IDB loan went towards works in 56 favelas. The second , which was recently granted, will be used to improve conditions in 73 shanty-towns.
Other programmes are also underway, such as one that focuses on small favelas of up to 500 households, and another aimed at legalising property ownership and extending title deeds to families living in shanty- towns that are home to a combined 600,000 people.
The Secretariat of Housing estimates that all the efforts combined will have improved the living conditions of at least one million people by the year 2004.
The current policies were adopted after a lengthy debate, and after several previous attempts to resolve the problem of the favelas and other precarious housing fell flat.
In the 1960s, the mass transfer of entire communities to housing complexes built far from the city centre merely ended up creating new hotspots of poverty and violence.
Later, the idea of transforming the favelas themselves into proper neighbourhoods, rather than moving their inhabitants elsewhere, slowly beganto take hold. But efforts were limited to timid investments and isolated actions, such as installing a few sewerage systems, said Cardoso.
In 1993, a master plan was drafted, outlining an integrated programme based on new concepts of urban planning as part of public policies, she explained.
No longer did authorities see the problem as a shortage of housing, but as a deficit of urban planning, since the housing units existed, and the real problem was that they lacked water, electricity and other services, said under-secretary of Housing Antonio Augusto Verssimo.
What is needed is to build ‘city’, not houses; to stretch the city to excluded areas, Rodrigues added.
Respect for the social rights of residents of poor neighbourhoods increased when the state recognised that they had made significant investment in building their homes and providing the favelas with certain services. That recognition served as the foundation for justifying public investment in urban development efforts.
Favela-Neighbourhood is a programme of the city, not of any party or the government, and its continuity is ensured through a four-year contract with the IDB independently of whether or not Mayor Luiz Paulo Conde is re-elected in October, said Rodrigues.
The project has enjoyed the support of several political forces, including opposition parties, he pointed out. Rodrigues also underlined that local communities are lobbying hard to be included in the project.
If that continuity is confirmed, by around 2020 Rio de Janeiro will be in a position to increase its participation in the Cities Without Slums Action Plan twofold, extending the project to all people living in overcrowded shanty-towns and other precarious housing.
For the process of urban development of those areas, the methodology followed is important, as is public investment. In that sense, Rio can offer other cities and countries the know-how accumulatedby experience, including the lessons learned from our errors, saidCarlos Fernando Andrade, president of the Institute of Brazilian Architects.
It is a good example, but not a model that can be reproduced without addressing the specific conditions of each city. The Favela-Neighbourhood project, for example, is not active in homes, but in public spaces, preventing the eviction of slum-dwellers. And even in Rio there are dangerous areas whose inhabitants must be transferred, Andrade pointed out.
Italian Aid Targets Residents of Brazil's Slums
ROME, Mar 23 (IPS)—The international co-operation division of Italy's Foreign Ministry assisted three poverty-stricken neighbourhoods in Brazil to obtain legal status because they do not even appear on the city maps of Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, located in the southeast of this Latin American country.
The residents of these neighbourhoods, known as ‘favelas&217; in Brazil, already face serious economic and social challenges in addition to the fact that they were not legally registered, meaning they did not have the right to vote or participate in other civil activities.
The Italian aid was channeled to the people in Belo Horizonte through a project that has been underway since 1994 and is to conclude this year, an effort of the Foreign Ministry's international co-operation fund that earmarked five million dollars for development in Brazil.
The balance of what has been implemented so far is more than positive, Paola Viero, one of the Italian project's leaders, told IPS.
The plan, known as Alborada (Daybreak), allowed some 50,000 favela inhabitants in three areas of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area to improve their standard of living by re-integrating them into the city's urban and social fabric.
The total cost of the programme—approximately 10 million dollars—has also been funded with donations from the European Union and the Brazilian government.
The project legalised 7,000 plots of land, granting the local people property rights and giving priority to the situation of women and children. It also led to the installation of sewage, clean water and electrical systems in the favelas.
Viero emphasised the participation of the project's beneficiaries in choosing development plans, building the various infrastructure systems, and creating social services, turning local residents into actors in the process of improving their own living conditions.
Neighbourhood institutions were also granted jurisdiction over planning, working methods and appropriate tools for controlling the development of the favelas.
This Italian aid project took into account the special situation of the children, who are the most affected by the poverty of the favelas, characterised by high unemployment, inadequate incomes and disintegrating families—80 percent of which are headed by single women.
All of this has serious repercussions on minors, who often face abandonment, crime and violence, which then feeds the phenomenon of street children and their exploitation in all forms, Viero pointed out.
There has been insufficient access to education because there were not enough schools or teachers, which, for adolescents, means one more factor in their exclusion from the labour market, perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty from one generation to the next, she added.
It is enough to consider that more than 80 percent of the favela children demonstrate a three or four year lag in normal educational development, said the Italian expert, adding that barely 20 percent of the neighbourhoods' minors go on to secondary school.
To confront this dire situation, the project first targeted children under age six by building schools to be run by community associations.
For the seven to 13 age group, the assistance project invested in expanding schools to allow the children to take part in more school-related, cultural or recreational activities.
With support from several businesses, adolescents age 14 to 18 benefit from vocational training courses that meet the demands of the local labour market.
This allowed the creation of employment search services, eliminating the lack of job information that had generally been a fundamental reason behind local residents' social exclusion.
Under the Italian aid programme, four schools were built and three are already in use, while training and economic support is going into more educational centres, ultimately benefiting some 1,200 girls and boys.
A total of 200 adolescents completed primary school and received vocational training under the programme so far. More than 70 percent had already found stable work within three months of finishing training. This number is expected to double, reaching 400 by the time the project concludes.
Health centres have also been erected in the favelas and some 50 community health workers trained to provide services to local residents.
The support given to children and adolescents through school should prevent more of them from becoming street children or falling victim to child labour, said Viero.
This Italian-Brazilian experience demonstrates that children can grow, receive an education and reach adulthood even in a high-risk context, she concluded.
The residents of these neighbourhoods, known as ‘favelas&217; in Brazil, already face serious economic and social challenges in addition to the fact that they were not legally registered, meaning they did not have the right to vote or participate in other civil activities.
The Italian aid was channeled to the people in Belo Horizonte through a project that has been underway since 1994 and is to conclude this year, an effort of the Foreign Ministry's international co-operation fund that earmarked five million dollars for development in Brazil.
The balance of what has been implemented so far is more than positive, Paola Viero, one of the Italian project's leaders, told IPS.
The plan, known as Alborada (Daybreak), allowed some 50,000 favela inhabitants in three areas of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area to improve their standard of living by re-integrating them into the city's urban and social fabric.
The total cost of the programme—approximately 10 million dollars—has also been funded with donations from the European Union and the Brazilian government.
The project legalised 7,000 plots of land, granting the local people property rights and giving priority to the situation of women and children. It also led to the installation of sewage, clean water and electrical systems in the favelas.
Viero emphasised the participation of the project's beneficiaries in choosing development plans, building the various infrastructure systems, and creating social services, turning local residents into actors in the process of improving their own living conditions.
Neighbourhood institutions were also granted jurisdiction over planning, working methods and appropriate tools for controlling the development of the favelas.
This Italian aid project took into account the special situation of the children, who are the most affected by the poverty of the favelas, characterised by high unemployment, inadequate incomes and disintegrating families—80 percent of which are headed by single women.
All of this has serious repercussions on minors, who often face abandonment, crime and violence, which then feeds the phenomenon of street children and their exploitation in all forms, Viero pointed out.
There has been insufficient access to education because there were not enough schools or teachers, which, for adolescents, means one more factor in their exclusion from the labour market, perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty from one generation to the next, she added.
It is enough to consider that more than 80 percent of the favela children demonstrate a three or four year lag in normal educational development, said the Italian expert, adding that barely 20 percent of the neighbourhoods' minors go on to secondary school.
To confront this dire situation, the project first targeted children under age six by building schools to be run by community associations.
For the seven to 13 age group, the assistance project invested in expanding schools to allow the children to take part in more school-related, cultural or recreational activities.
With support from several businesses, adolescents age 14 to 18 benefit from vocational training courses that meet the demands of the local labour market.
This allowed the creation of employment search services, eliminating the lack of job information that had generally been a fundamental reason behind local residents' social exclusion.
Under the Italian aid programme, four schools were built and three are already in use, while training and economic support is going into more educational centres, ultimately benefiting some 1,200 girls and boys.
A total of 200 adolescents completed primary school and received vocational training under the programme so far. More than 70 percent had already found stable work within three months of finishing training. This number is expected to double, reaching 400 by the time the project concludes.
Health centres have also been erected in the favelas and some 50 community health workers trained to provide services to local residents.
The support given to children and adolescents through school should prevent more of them from becoming street children or falling victim to child labour, said Viero.
This Italian-Brazilian experience demonstrates that children can grow, receive an education and reach adulthood even in a high-risk context, she concluded.
Violence
News from Brazil, no. 299, 15 January 1998
63% of residents of Sao Paulo city have suffered violence
A survey carried out by the United Nations’ Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Delinquents (ILANUD) together with Datafolha and the‘Folha de Sao Paulo’ shows that 63% (approximately 4.3 million people) of the residents of Sao Paulo city, 16 years of age or over, suffered violence during the last five years (36% suffered more than once such an act; 27% suffered one such act). The results show that richer people are more frequently victims of such violence. For example, 83% of people interviewed who have a monthly family income of at least US $1800 suffered such violence. On the other hand, 49% of people interviewed in the survey with a monthly family income of up to US $600 were victims of such violence. 76% of people interviewed who declared that their principal activity was study had been victims of such acts of violence. 70% of the victims were men; 71% were in the 16 to 24 age bracket; 69% were single; 86% had studied in college/university and 75% lived in the central region of the city. The survey had as its’ objectives to study hidden violence the effects of which frequently is not included in official figures. The results of the survey were published in reports in the‘Folha de Sao Paulo' between January 01 and 05.
Eleven categories of violence were included in the survey—car theft, theft of objects from a car, vandalism of cars, theft of motor cycles and bicycles, break-ins, attempted break-ins, assault, theft of personal property, sexual offenses and physical aggression. The survey showed that the most common crime in the city of Sao Paulo is assault. A fifth of the population of the city (1.36 million people) were forced to hand over some object under threat from a gun between 1992 and 1996 in the city. Surveys using a similar methodology showed that 4% suffered such assaults in the United States and 2% in England and Italy. Countries with statistics closer to Brazil are Argentina (17%) and Uganda (24%). In the Sao Paulo survey the theft of personal property and physical aggression are next on the violence after assaults—16% and 14% respectively. Usually the victims knew the person who physically assaulted them. 18% were colleagues or supervisors; 17% were friends; 13% were family members; 11% of the aggressors were husbands or partners; 6% were former husbands or partners; 5% were former boy/girl friends and 1% were current boy/girl friends. 30% of car owners in the city had the experience of having minor damages such as the breaking of antennas or scratches on the paint intentionally caused to their vehicles.
The survey showed that 66% of the victims during the last five years did not register the crime with the police. The Secretariat for Public Security of the State of Sao Paulo had worked with a hypothesis that 30% of crimes go unreported. The survey shows however that the rate of notification is higher when more valuable items are stolen. 94% of stolen cars are reported to the police as well as 80% of stolen motor cycles. The‘Folha de Sao Paulo' reported on January 13 that from 1991 to November 1997, 1484440 vehicles were reported to have been stolen in Brazil. Of this total only 487958 were found and returned to their owners. During this same period a total of 792407 vehicles were stolen in the state of Sao Paulo alone. Only 262218 of this total were found. On the other hand only 18% of those who had goods stolen from a car reported the theft to the police; of those who had their homes broken into only 40% went to the police. The crime which is less reported is vandalism to cars (5%). Only 23% of assaults were reported and 10% of those who suffered sexual offenses reported the crime to the police.
8% of those interviewed had personal arms—projecting this statistic shows that there are arms in 770 thousand houses in the city of Sao Paulo. 58% of those who had arms claimed that the reason was to protect themselves against crime. 19% of those interviewed from families with an income of over US $1800 per month had arms and 3% of those interviewed from families with monthly incomes of up to US $600 owned arms. Of those who had studied in third level institutions 15% owned arms whilst only 4% of those who had finished studies at primary level owned arms. The person who has money to buy arms is the same as has money to live in the more secure condominiums and pay private guards commented sociologist Tulio Kahn who worked on the survey. Armed guards also abound in commercial establishments in the center of the city and principal business areas. A report in the‘Folha de Sao Paulo’ on December 20 showed that along one block on Oscar Frieire street in the upper-class Jardims area, 15 armed guards were attached to commercial establishments. The survey showed that the concentration of arms are found in neighborhoods of the city with lower incidents of violence. 53% of those interviewed in the survey replied that the police were not efficient in the work of crime prevention in their neighborhood.
9% of all women in the city of Sao Paulo have been victims of a sexual offense during the last five years according to the survey. In 68% of such crimes the aggressors were not known by the victims. 10% of such cases were registered with the police.—34% of victims believed that the police would do nothing if they reported the crime. During the five year period being surveyed 5383 cases of rape have been registered with the police in the State of Sao Paulo. 23% of the total of the sexual offense crimes listed in the survey were rape or rape attempts and in 76% of the cases the aggressor was acting alone.
Book published by high ranking police officers provokes protests
In mid December, five captains of the military police in Sao Paulo published a book entitled React! Prepare Yourself for Confrontation. The book defended three basic principles—people should react when they are victims of a violent action; the use of an arm is recommended if the person is well trained in its’ use and criminals are‘less human’ people and should be‘put out of combat'. One of items of advice given in the book is When someone is trying to kill you, aim fire at the part of the body which is easier hit but if at all possible aim at the head. The publication of the book was met by protests especially from human rights groups working to disarm the general population.
Proposals and suggestions made in the book went totally contrary to the policies of the Secretariat of Public Security which is responsible for the military police and which had been engaged in the campaign of disarmament during the weeks previous to the publication of the book. The authors also were discovered to have been infringing regulations of the military police in that they had part time jobs as instructors in a security company. On December 21, the Commander General of the Military Police in Sao Paulo, Carlos Alberto de Camargo removed four of the captains from their posts and they were appointed to office jobs in the military police. The fifth author who has formed part of the body-guard of former Governor Luis Antonio Fleury Filho for a number of years, was left in his post.
63% of residents of Sao Paulo city have suffered violence
A survey carried out by the United Nations’ Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Delinquents (ILANUD) together with Datafolha and the‘Folha de Sao Paulo’ shows that 63% (approximately 4.3 million people) of the residents of Sao Paulo city, 16 years of age or over, suffered violence during the last five years (36% suffered more than once such an act; 27% suffered one such act). The results show that richer people are more frequently victims of such violence. For example, 83% of people interviewed who have a monthly family income of at least US $1800 suffered such violence. On the other hand, 49% of people interviewed in the survey with a monthly family income of up to US $600 were victims of such violence. 76% of people interviewed who declared that their principal activity was study had been victims of such acts of violence. 70% of the victims were men; 71% were in the 16 to 24 age bracket; 69% were single; 86% had studied in college/university and 75% lived in the central region of the city. The survey had as its’ objectives to study hidden violence the effects of which frequently is not included in official figures. The results of the survey were published in reports in the‘Folha de Sao Paulo' between January 01 and 05.
Eleven categories of violence were included in the survey—car theft, theft of objects from a car, vandalism of cars, theft of motor cycles and bicycles, break-ins, attempted break-ins, assault, theft of personal property, sexual offenses and physical aggression. The survey showed that the most common crime in the city of Sao Paulo is assault. A fifth of the population of the city (1.36 million people) were forced to hand over some object under threat from a gun between 1992 and 1996 in the city. Surveys using a similar methodology showed that 4% suffered such assaults in the United States and 2% in England and Italy. Countries with statistics closer to Brazil are Argentina (17%) and Uganda (24%). In the Sao Paulo survey the theft of personal property and physical aggression are next on the violence after assaults—16% and 14% respectively. Usually the victims knew the person who physically assaulted them. 18% were colleagues or supervisors; 17% were friends; 13% were family members; 11% of the aggressors were husbands or partners; 6% were former husbands or partners; 5% were former boy/girl friends and 1% were current boy/girl friends. 30% of car owners in the city had the experience of having minor damages such as the breaking of antennas or scratches on the paint intentionally caused to their vehicles.
The survey showed that 66% of the victims during the last five years did not register the crime with the police. The Secretariat for Public Security of the State of Sao Paulo had worked with a hypothesis that 30% of crimes go unreported. The survey shows however that the rate of notification is higher when more valuable items are stolen. 94% of stolen cars are reported to the police as well as 80% of stolen motor cycles. The‘Folha de Sao Paulo' reported on January 13 that from 1991 to November 1997, 1484440 vehicles were reported to have been stolen in Brazil. Of this total only 487958 were found and returned to their owners. During this same period a total of 792407 vehicles were stolen in the state of Sao Paulo alone. Only 262218 of this total were found. On the other hand only 18% of those who had goods stolen from a car reported the theft to the police; of those who had their homes broken into only 40% went to the police. The crime which is less reported is vandalism to cars (5%). Only 23% of assaults were reported and 10% of those who suffered sexual offenses reported the crime to the police.
8% of those interviewed had personal arms—projecting this statistic shows that there are arms in 770 thousand houses in the city of Sao Paulo. 58% of those who had arms claimed that the reason was to protect themselves against crime. 19% of those interviewed from families with an income of over US $1800 per month had arms and 3% of those interviewed from families with monthly incomes of up to US $600 owned arms. Of those who had studied in third level institutions 15% owned arms whilst only 4% of those who had finished studies at primary level owned arms. The person who has money to buy arms is the same as has money to live in the more secure condominiums and pay private guards commented sociologist Tulio Kahn who worked on the survey. Armed guards also abound in commercial establishments in the center of the city and principal business areas. A report in the‘Folha de Sao Paulo’ on December 20 showed that along one block on Oscar Frieire street in the upper-class Jardims area, 15 armed guards were attached to commercial establishments. The survey showed that the concentration of arms are found in neighborhoods of the city with lower incidents of violence. 53% of those interviewed in the survey replied that the police were not efficient in the work of crime prevention in their neighborhood.
9% of all women in the city of Sao Paulo have been victims of a sexual offense during the last five years according to the survey. In 68% of such crimes the aggressors were not known by the victims. 10% of such cases were registered with the police.—34% of victims believed that the police would do nothing if they reported the crime. During the five year period being surveyed 5383 cases of rape have been registered with the police in the State of Sao Paulo. 23% of the total of the sexual offense crimes listed in the survey were rape or rape attempts and in 76% of the cases the aggressor was acting alone.
Book published by high ranking police officers provokes protests
In mid December, five captains of the military police in Sao Paulo published a book entitled React! Prepare Yourself for Confrontation. The book defended three basic principles—people should react when they are victims of a violent action; the use of an arm is recommended if the person is well trained in its’ use and criminals are‘less human’ people and should be‘put out of combat'. One of items of advice given in the book is When someone is trying to kill you, aim fire at the part of the body which is easier hit but if at all possible aim at the head. The publication of the book was met by protests especially from human rights groups working to disarm the general population.
Proposals and suggestions made in the book went totally contrary to the policies of the Secretariat of Public Security which is responsible for the military police and which had been engaged in the campaign of disarmament during the weeks previous to the publication of the book. The authors also were discovered to have been infringing regulations of the military police in that they had part time jobs as instructors in a security company. On December 21, the Commander General of the Military Police in Sao Paulo, Carlos Alberto de Camargo removed four of the captains from their posts and they were appointed to office jobs in the military police. The fifth author who has formed part of the body-guard of former Governor Luis Antonio Fleury Filho for a number of years, was left in his post.
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