In 2015, Brazil reported more homicides (59, 108) than the United States, Mexico, Canada, China, Russia, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, North Africa and the entirety of Europe. It’s standing as one of the world’s most violent countries, however, did not stop it from being the hosting state of the 2016 Olympics.
In the same study, the United States and Russia walked away with two of the higher homicide counts on the list as well, 15, 696 and 16, 232, respectively. Overall, the U.S. city of Compton, California has a higher homicide rate than the Brazilian capital, Rio de Janeiro.
I mention these statistics because they contradict popular perception.
At the same time that the statistics reported Brazil’s homicide rates, the Global Health Data Exchange was acknowledging that the United States recorded nearly double firearm-related deaths than the global average. So where is safety? Who is safe?
On August 31, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert to U.S. citizens about the “continued threat of terror attacks in Europe.” The report opened saying that “widely reported incidents in France, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Finland demonstrate that the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS or Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, and their affiliates have the ability to plan and execute terrorist attacks in Europe.”
According to StoryMaps, a visual record of terrorist attacks around the world that displays where the attack occurred, who committed it and the number of fatalities, the number of high profile terrorist attacks in Europe this year has been 12; The United States showed eight. Europe consists of 50 individual nations, with different politics, politics which were, at times, responsible for the attacks. Meanwhile, the United States registered 6– 8 terrorist attacks. The FBI’s annual Incidents and Offenses Report showed that in the U.S. hate crimes based on racial, religious and sexual orientation or gender identity bias constituted nearly 6,000 attacks.
Every day seems to bring us more news of missile alerts and compromised national security. But being afraid to travel to South America, Europe and Asia and Africa, makes as much sense as saying you’re afraid to travel to Compton. Our perceptions of what countries are safest are determined by our own familiarity.
I met a man from Brazil a while back and I thought to myself ‘wow, I wonder what his concerns must be, having lived in such a dangerous place.’ Hearing about the U.S.’s record for police brutality and its most recent white-supremacist uprising, I now wonder what he must’ve thought even more. Did he think about me ‘I wonder if he actually feels safe.’
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