Brazilian Social Issues

Nobody can refute the fact that Brazil is a stunning country, with a very vast amount of natural beauty and a strong cultural identity, rich in traditions, colours, flavors, customs, and languages.
However, as in many South American countries, Brazil has to face lots of social issues, which tend to make people think that the country is not a safe place.

I couldn’t start this article without first speaking about the problem of poverty in Brazil. Did you know that the richest 10% of people in Brazil have access to over 40% of the country’s income? And that the poorest 10% receive about 1% of the income? Everyone who has ever been in Brazil would be able to certify that this poverty is visible and tangible all over the country. And this contrast is even clearer by the fact that the rich live alongside the poor (as you can see in the picture). Some of the best-known slums, also called favelas, are those that cling to steep hillsides in Rio de Janeiro. In those dangerous places, the constant promiscuity leads to unsanitary conditions, and pollution. Besides, people don’t have any access to water or a decent food, so, they suffer from malnutrition, and diseases. The infant mortality rate (IMR) is really high, which is another social issue that affect badly the country. However, the government is not rejecting these people anymore, like it did by the past, but in contrary many community initiatives have been set up in order to help the hungry and the homeless. 

The other social issue that I would like to talk about is the high level of crimes. Brazil is one of the most unsafe place in the world. The most common forms of crime in this country include mugging, robbing, kidnapping and gang violence. According to Rapoza Kenneth,"Brazilian cities dominate a list of the 50 murder capitals of the world". But, in addition to the crime, there is another danger that threat the country, which is the corruption and violence made by the police themselves. Many Brazilians don't sue their attacker because they fear that this action could result in their death as the police is highly corrupted by gangs, and particularly in the slums. In fact, Joshua Hammer claimed that in those places “drug-trafficking gangs controlled everything” as “the police rarely entered out of fear they could be ambushed in the alleys.”

This article allows me to talk to you about the lack of education, which is another issue directly threatening the country and negatively affecting the Brazilian's economic growth and development. The number of illiterate people in Brazil is still really high as the government has always ignored this problem throughout the years. In fact, according to the article "The Brazilian Educational System", "nearly 18% of the Brazilian population is functionally illiterate, meaning that they know words and numbers but are unable to comprehend a sentence or perform a simple mathematical operation." Besides, poor families tend to encourage their children to start working as soon as possible because it can be another source of income. So, despite that it is being illegal to employ a child less than 16 years old, child labor amongst poorer children is very crucial. 

During the last decade, Brazil’s public investment in education increased steadily between 2000 and 2010 by 2.1 percentage points, from 3.5 percent to 5.6 percent. However, even if the Brazilian government is paying to create programs for supporting children from all areas of the communities to have access to education, Brazil still lags behind developed countries such as Australia, Germany, the United States, France, etc.

Sources:

Hammer, J. (January 2013). A Look Into Brazil’s Makeover of Rio’s Slums. Retrieved from: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/a-look-into-brazils-makeover-of-rios-slums-165624916/?no-ist

Rapoza, K. (2016, January 29). Brazil Is Murder Capital Of The World, But Rio Is Safer Than Compton, Detroit, St. Louis... Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2016/01/29/months-before-rio-olympics-murder-rate-rises-in-brazil/#4effa48a1a0b

Nes, C. F. (2015, August 12). The Brazilian Educational System. Retrieved from: http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/the-brazilian-educational-system