Group Exercise In small groups, discuss how race, sex, and class has been framed in discussion with your host families or local in Sao Paulo. How do these discussions compare to discussions about race and sex in the US?

Structural Violence Anthropologist and medical doctor/physician Paul Farmer defines structural violence as a “broad rubric that includes a host of offensives against human dignity: extreme and relative poverty, social inequalities ranging from racism to gender inequality, and the more spectacular forms of violence that are uncontestedly human rights abuses, some of them punishment for efforts to escape structural violence…” Farmar, P. (2005). Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor. Berkeley, University of California Press, p. 8).

Impact of Violence Brazil 2004 UN Study of violence in 60 countries identified Brazil as having highest rate of homicide in the world. 90% of homicides are caused by firearms Most of lethal violence concentrated in cities, and higher in favelas and low income areas.

Homicide Rates per 100,000 by Gender and Age of the City of Rio de Janeiro (Source: Cano et al., “O Impacto da Violencia,” UERJ (2004) Age RangeGenderTotal MaleFemale years or older Total

Drugs, Guns & Surveillance

Structural Reasons for Violence Stigmatized territories, within city, excluded from state protection Inequality and high priced commodity of drug trade Well-organized drug gangs and networks Easy access to weaponry Underpaid and understaffed police force Independent militias and vigilante groups that kill at will Sensationalist media that reinforces negative stereotypes

Socioeconomic Status (SES) SES is measured by income, education, and employment; childhood poverty and social position; geographical variation; lack of access to health care; exposure to environmental and occupational hazards; racial/ethnic residential segregation and its effects on income, wealth, social isolation, and access to resources and opporutnities… Geiger, J (2006). Health Disparities: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know? What Should We Do?. In, Gender and Health: The Effects of Constrained Choices and Social Policies. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

The Social Costs in Not Addressing Disparities in Health In the U.S., during decade of , as many as 866,000 black deaths could have been averted. Comparable cumulative estimates for preventable premature death among Hispanic Americans. Between 1978 and 2000, Rio de Janeiro has lost a total of 50,000 people to homicides. Geiger, J.H. (2006). Health Disparities: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know? What Should We Do? In, Gender and Health: The Effects of Constrained Choices and Social Policies. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Perlman, J Violence, Fear, and Loss. In, Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro. New York, Oxford University Press.