According to the report of the first National Meeting on Homeless Population, organized and held in 2005 by Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger through the National Secretariat of Social Assistance, the characterization gives homeless population was defined as: heterogeneous population group, composed of people with different realities, but who share the condition of absolute poverty, broken bonds or weakened and lack of regular conventional housing, being compelled to use the street as a living space and livelihood, either temporarily or permanently.
It can be said that the emergence of the homeless population it is one of the reflexes of social exclusion, which every day affects and harms a greater number of people who do not fit into the current economic model, which requires a professional qualification from the worker, although this is inaccessible to most of the population.
It is undeniable that each year more individuals use the streets as housing, a fact triggered by several factors: absence of family ties, unemployment, violence, loss of self-esteem, alcoholism, drug use, mental illness, among others factors.
Between 2007 and 2008, the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger conducted a survey in 71 cities Brazilians with a population of over 300 thousand inhabitants, covering the capitals (except São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Recife and Porto Happy). According to this survey, whose data were released in 2008, there are 31,922 individuals who use the streets as housing, however, these numbers are much higher, as important cities were not included in the research.
You Brazilian municipalities that have more homeless people are: Rio de Janeiro (4,585), Salvador (3,289), Curitiba (2,776), Brasília (1,734), Fortaleza (1,701), São José dos Campos (1633), Campinas (1,027), Santos (713), Nova Iguaçu (649), Juiz de Fora (607) and Goiânia (563).
Among the population in question, males predominate (82%), aged between 25 and 44 years (53%) and who have never studied or have not completed elementary school (63.5%). Regarding color, 39.1% are brown, 27.9% black, 29.5% white, 1.3% indigenous, 1% oriental yellow and 1.2% of unidentified color.
The ineffectiveness of these public policies has historically made the work of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Religious Institutions stand out. In general, these institutions operate in the distribution of food, clothing and blankets. Another assistance work is the temporary shelters and hostels that, in general, are considered insufficient to benefit this entire population.
Such policies, whose objective is to support the people who need them, are insufficient and generally do not attack the cause of the problem, they just try to supply the basic survival needs, as well as are not based on an effective knowledge about the demands that guide this population contingent.
Therefore, this state's lack of interest in people in the aforementioned situation directly influences their behavior. society, and homeless people are treated sometimes with compassion, sometimes with repression, prejudice, indifference and violence.
By Wagner de Cerqueira and Francisco
Graduated in Geography
Brazil School Team
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil/populacao-situacao-rua.htm
