Gun violence, violence, mental health and racism, reflections based on the case of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The article aims to reflect on the effects of gun violence on the mental health of the population living and working in favelas, focusing on the state of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil. This is a theoretical and critical study, supported by empirical research carried out by the authors, based on a postcolonial approach, taking the phenomenon of racism as a central element. Gun violence in Rio de Janeiro, its impacts on mental health, and some actions to confront it are discussed, identifying how slum territories and their population, mostly black, are at the center of the problem, experiencing the effects that kill and make people sick. Although insufficient, coping actions raised by the public sector and civil society seek to give visibility to the problem and be forms of denunciation and resistance to the harmful effects of gun violence on health.

Keywords
Violence; Gun violence; Poverty areas; Racism; Mental health