Isay Weinfeld

São Paulo. Over half of its population has fallen victim to some kind of crime in the past five years. On average, five women are raped everyday in the metropolitan area. Juvenile homicide rates are alarming: 98.8 young people are killed out of every 100,000 Brazilians aged between 15 and 24. There are over 300 cases of theft every day in the Greater São Paulo area. Roughly 100 people are injured in traffic accidents every day. On average, over 20 people are murdered every day in the metropolitan area. Every day in the Greater São Paulo area, four people die in traffic accidents, on average. There is on average one robbery followed by death per day in São Paulo. Roughly 40,000 people have been killed in the metropolitan area in the past five years. The number of kidnappings increased in the first half of this year: 33 cases, against 29 in the same period in 2003. People are killed in Brazil at an appalling rate: one person is killed every 12 minutes, which amounts to 45,000 homicides per year. In Brazil, 27 violent deaths are recorded every year for every 100 thousand inhabitants. The rate of homicides with firearms increased from 43.6% in 1980 to 48.3% in 2000 – and therefore Brazil ranks first in number of deaths caused by this type of weapon. In 2002, there were roughly 240,000 inmates living in Brazilian prisons. The states of Roraima, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro record the highest homicide rates in Brazil with over 50 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants. Home to 3% of the world’s population, Brazil accounts for 13% of the homicides of the planet. Welcome to Happyland.

Isay Weinfeld e Marcio Kogan