Brazil is country where people fear violence the most in the world, says index

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil is the country where the population registers the highest degree of fear of violence, according to the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2021. The survey, prepared annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, based in Australia, showed that almost 83% of Brazilians fear being victims of a violent crime.

In its 15th edition, the study also presents a ranking of 163 countries, classified according to the level of violence. This year, Brazil ranked 128th, behind other South American nations such as Chile (49), Ecuador (88) and even Bolivia (105).

“Brazil is the third least peaceful country in South America according to our index [ahead only of Venezuela and Colombia] and we have identified over the past year a deterioration in levels of internal conflict and political instability,” says Steve Killela, CEO and founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace.

The data collected also shows that 64% of Brazilians believe that violence is the greatest risk to their personal health and 58% feel less safe today than they did 5 years ago. Among women, 80% say they feel less safe in the country than men.

Many Latin American countries recorded a large drop in homicides and violent street crime. However, the survey reveals that lockdown measures implemented in Brazil had no impact on the number of homicides.

Global Results

Globally, the study showed a slight deterioration in the level of global pacification. This is the 9th time in 12 years that the GPI has reported the same result.

Overall, 87 countries saw their peace rates improve, while 73 fell in the ranking. Brazil remained in the same position as the previous year.

Afghanistan was ranked by GPI as the world’s least peaceful country for the 4th consecutive year, followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and Iraq. Topping the list as the safest nation is Iceland – which has held the same position since 2008. The ranking also includes New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal, and Slovenia in top positions.

Although the Brazilian population fears violent crime the most, the survey registered higher rates of violence experience in other countries. The situation is more serious in sub-Saharan Africa, where 5 out of 5 nations, more than half of the population, experienced a recent violent event.

Namibia ranks the worst in this aspect, with 63% of its population claiming to have suffered serious injury from violence or knowing someone who has so in the past two years.

Pandemic and violence

One of the main new features in the study published in 2021 is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on conflict and violence levels. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, civil unrest increased in 2020 and over 5,000 violent events related to the health crisis were recorded between January 2020 and April 2021.

Conflicts and crises that emerged in the past decade have begun to subside, but have been replaced by a new wave of tension and uncertainty as a result of the pandemic and increased tension between many of the major global powers. While much of the world has gone into lockdown, the overall level of political and civil unrest has increased.

The greatest regional deterioration in peace occurred in North America due to increased levels of political instability, homicides, and violent demonstrations. Events such as the raid of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of ex-president Donald Trump in January this year and widespread protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement increased civil unrest, political instability, and the intensity of internal conflict in 2020.

When analyzing the rates of violent popular demonstrations, 25 countries saw their indicators drop, while only 8 improved. Among the most affected nations are Belarus, Myanmar, Russia, the United States, and Kyrgyzstan.

“Over time, Covid-19 has become a multiplier effect for several pre-existing conflicts due to political instability, violence in demonstrations, and other social factors such as polarization” says Steve Killela. “With the first lockdowns, violent crimes and homicides decreased in different countries around the world, but as restrictions were lifted violent demonstrations began to increase.”

Although Europe also experienced many protests last year, the region remains the most peaceful in the world. However, political instability has increased across the continent, along with leading indicators of militarization, including military spending, arms imports, and nuclear and heavy weapons capabilities.

The study further noted that during the pandemic, countries with higher levels of peace also boasted more resilient economies. The most peaceful countries recorded reductions of less than 7% in total hours worked by the general population, while the most violent countries saw a 23% decline, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.

“In the last three years we saw a resumption of growth in military spending around the world after about half a decade in decline. This is a worrying sign for the future as international and inter-country tensions increase,” says Thomas Morgan, Associate Director of Research at the Institute for Economics and Peace.