More than half of Brazilians feel unsafe walking alone at night on the streets. According to data from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), carried out in the last quarter of 2021 and released today (7) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the percentage of people who feel insecure or very insecure to go out to the streets after the sun goes down reaches 51.7%. The greatest feeling of insecurity was observed in the North Region, where the percentage reached 60.4%. In the South, the sensation is lesser, reaching 38.1% of people. In the other regions, the percentages are: Northeast (54.4%), Southeast (53.1%) and Midwest (50.4%). “It is a period associated with less flow of people, with emptier, less lit streets. This is a factor that generates fear and insecurity”, says IBGE researcher Alessandra Brito. The percentage of insecure Brazilians during the day is lower: 20.3% of Brazilians are afraid to walk alone during that time. On average, the feeling of insecurity at any time of the day affects 28.8% of Brazilians. The survey also asked respondents whether they felt safe inside and outside the home. Those who have a sense of security at home reach 89.5%. Those who feel safe in their neighborhood drop to 72.1% and those who say they feel safe walking around the city as a whole plummet to 54.6%. When analyzing urban and rural areas, the percentage of feeling safe at home is practically the same (89.5% for the city and 89.6% for the countryside). But when analyzing the feeling in relation to the neighborhood and the city, there are divergences. In the urban zone, people who say they feel safe in the neighborhood are 70.2% and, in the city as a whole, 52.8%. In rural areas, the feeling of security in the neighborhood reaches 84.3% of people, while those who feel safe in the city as a whole are 66.5%. Women, in general, feel more insecure than men. Those who feel safe at home are 88.6%, in the neighborhood, 69.5% and in the city, 51.6%. On the other hand, the percentages for men are 90.5%, 75% and 58%, respectively. Victims of robbery and theft also demonstrate less security. While among people who have not been robbed in the last year, 71.6% feel safe, among victims of robbery, the proportion of those who feel safe drops to 37.6%. The biggest risks of victimization perceived by Brazilians are being robbed or having their cars, motorcycles or bicycles stolen. According to the survey, 40% of respondents perceive a high or medium risk of being robbed on the streets, 38.1% of being robbed on public transport, 37.2% of having a car, motorcycle or bicycle stolen/stolen and 29.5% of be stolen from your home. Men x women Comparing men and women, male respondents are more afraid (13.5%) than women (8.5%) of being victims of police violence. In addition, 13.4% of men are afraid of being mistaken for bandits, while among women this fear only affects 6.9% of them. The fear of being a victim of sexual aggression affects more women (20.2%) than men (5.7%). “In general, women have a higher perception of high and medium risk for almost everything [ser assaltada, ter sua casa assaltada, ser vítima de violência física, ser assassinada, estar no meio de um tiroteio etc], but the most glaring difference is being a victim of sexual assault,” explains Alessandra. Whites vs. Blacks The survey also shows that blacks are more afraid of being victimized by the police, of being murdered or being shot than whites. Regarding police violence, 12.8% of blacks are afraid of being victims, while among whites this fear reaches 8.5%. The fear of being mistaken for a criminal by the police affects 12.5% of blacks and 6.8% of whites. Blacks who perceive medium or high risk for stray bullets are 18.3%, for being in the middle of a shootout, 18% and for being murdered, 14%. For whites, the percentages are 14.2%, 13.9% and 11.5%, respectively. The risk of being kidnapped, on the other hand, is perceived more by whites (13%) than by blacks (10.6%). Habit change The fear of violence also makes many Brazilians change their habits. According to the survey, more than half of women avoid attitudes such as arriving or leaving home very late (63.6%), going to street ATMs at night (57.2%), using cell phones in public places ( 57.6%), going to places with few people around (56.6%) and talking to unknown people in public (55.2%). Men also try to avoid the same things as women, but to a lesser extent: arriving or leaving home very late (49.4%), going to street ATMs at night (48.9%), using cell phones in public places (44.7%), going to places with few people circulating (42.8%) and talking to unknown people in public (42.8%). Regarding the role of information in the feeling of insecurity, the IBGE showed that 77% of people who do not get information about violence feel safe, against 73.4% of those who get information through social networks, 70.7% through radio and TV, 70.2% from conversations with relatives and friends, 69.1% from printed newspapers or magazines and 68.4% from newspapers and magazines on the Internet. Most Brazilians also seek to make their homes safer. According to the survey, 68% of households in the country have some device or professional for security. In the South, the percentage reaches 76.2%, while in the Northeast the share is 60.8%. Locks, locks or reinforced locks account for 41% of protection mechanisms, followed by high walls and/or walls with broken glass and barbed wire (35.5%), dogs or other protection animals (29%) and cameras or alarms (17.1%).
Agência Brasil
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