“The Number of People involved in Rural Conflicts increased, and Conflicts over Water hit a New Record in 2018”, 11th April 2019

Approximately one million people were involved in rural conflicts in Brazil in 2018…In particular, there were 118,080 families involved in land conflicts in 2018, while in 2017, there were 106,180 families, hence an increase of 11%…The increase in the number of people involved in conflicts was not homogeneous throughout the national territory…Intensification of the violence provoked by the private sector caused the number of families expelled to explode In only 2018, private forces were responsible for the expulsion of 2,307 families and the public power for evicting 11,235 families. The number of families expelled by private forces in the rural areas increased by 59% over 2017…The occurrence of specifically land conflicts has increased significantly since 2016…Finally, the recent years of 2016, 2017 and 2018 are the ones that had the most land conflicts in Brazil, despite the fall in numbers between 2017 and 2018…The importance of women in the context of the struggles of the peoples and communities in rural areas is becoming ever more evident and shocking. And due to their their brave action they suffer the consequences of the repression sponsored by landowners, land grabbers and businessmen, and executed by gunmen, hired assassins, security companies and by the repressive organs of the State itself…