Racism and homophobia records skyrocket in the country in 2022

Data from the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook 2023, from the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP), released today (20), show that the number of records of crimes of racial injury, racism and homophobia or transphobia skyrocketed in 2022 in the country compared to the previous year. Racism records jumped from 1,464 cases in 2021 to 2,458 in 2022. The national rate in 2022 was 1.66 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, an increase of 67% compared to the previous year. The states with the highest rates, according to the yearbook, were: Rondônia (5.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), Amapá (5.2), Sergipe (4.8), Acre (3.3), and Espírito Santo (3.1). The records of racial slurs also grew. In 2021, there were 10,814 cases and, in 2022, 10,990. The rate in 2022 was 7.63 per 100 inhabitants, 32.3% higher than the previous year (5.77). The states with the highest rates were the Federal District (22.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), Santa Catarina (20.3), and Mato Grosso do Sul (17). The crime of racism due to homophobia or transphobia had 488 cases registered in 2022 in the country, compared to 326 in 2021. The national rate per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 was 0.44 – 53.6% higher than the previous year. The states with the highest rates were: Distrito Federal (2.4), Rio Grande do Sul (1.1), and Goiás (0.9). “We observed large increases in the rates of racial injury (which grew by 32.3%) and racism (which grew by 67%), denoting an increase in the demand for access to the right to non-discrimination”, highlights the text of the yearbook. The FBSP criticized the lack of data, which should be provided by official bodies, regarding the number of people from the LGBTQIA+ group who were victims of bodily harm, homicide and rape. “As for the data referring to LGBTQIA+ victims of bodily injury, homicide and rape, we continue with the very high underreporting. As usual, the State demonstrates that it is not incapable, because it has the administrative capacity and human resources to do so, but it is uninterested in addressing and solving it”, says the text. According to the FBSP, in order to quantify these crimes, it is necessary to rely on data produced by civil society, such as those from the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA) and the Gay Group of Bahia (GGB). According to the yearbook, ANTRA counted, in 2022, 131 trans and transvestite homicide victims. The GGB recorded 256 LGBTQIA+ victims of the same crime in 2022. “The State accounted for 163, 63% of what the civil society organization accounted for, demonstrating that official statistics provide little information about the reality of violence against LGBTQIA+ in the country”. “If databases are primary instruments of social transformation, what does the production of official uninformative data say about the destination towards which we are heading in the face of hate crimes in Brazil?”, questioned the text of the yearbook.

Agência Brasil