A group of women protest in Rio de Janeiro at the state government palace after five young black men were murdered in November by police officers in what became known as the Costa Barros massacre. The mother of one of them, Joselita de Souza, died in July — according to her family, of depression. Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil, CC-BY 3.0 Doctors say Joselita de Sousa died of cardiorespiratory failure. But her family says she died of depression. Two weeks before her death, the police officers responsible for her unarmed black teenage son's death were released from prison on a court order. The portrait of homicide victims in Brazil consists of men, young, black or part-black from low-income families. But Joselita's case illustrates another picture: women whose names do not appear in official homicide statistics, but are systematically victimized by the structural violence in their country. Justice for Joselita, and women like her, is increasingly being fought by other women. For the last ten years, the Mothers of May have become a significant force in Brazil fighting against police violence and offering support to women directly affected by it. Only days after her death, Joselita was remembered at Black July, a three-day gathering, organised by different Brazilian social movements including Mothers of May. A delegation from the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States also attended. Joselita was remembered during a discussion about mental health of black communities affected by violence. Waltrina Middleton, a Black Lives Matter activist, said: The normalcy of gunshots, living with the gunshots, living with the brutality, is enslavement. It’s trauma. It’s suffering against our souls. It is important for you to break the chains of oppression and to fight back, to be conscious of the statistics that impact your community and to support each other Seven months before Joselita's death, her 16-year-old son Roberto was out celebrating his first pay check with friends when four police officers fired over a hundred bullets at their car. All five black teenagers from a poor Rio de Janeiro suburb were killed. They were unarmed when the so-called Massacre of Costa Barros happened. The police later said they were after a group of cargo thieves. Court proceedings revealed that the police also tried to manipulate the crime scene to make it look like they acted in self-defense. After her son's brutal murder, Joselita started attending psychological counselling sessions at the State Department of Social Welfare, but her family says she abandoned the treatment as she had no money for the bus fare. Her heart gave out on July 5, soon after she had also been diagnosed with pneumonia and anemia. Meus pêsames aos familiares e amigos de Joselita de Souza, mais uma mãe negra suicidada pela violência estrutural deste país traumatizado. — Jaqueline Jesus (@JaquelineJsus) 10 July 2016 My condolences to the relatives and friends of Joselita de Souza, another black mother killed by the structural violence of this traumatised country. NEWS 8 months after son was killed in #CostaBarros slaughter, Joselita de Souza passes away https://t.co/JmGjzIBJ6W pic.twitter.com/W1mXrC6US7 — RioOnWatch Wire (@RioONWire) 10 July 2016 The latest version of the Brazilian Violence Atlas, an annual report published by the Applied Economic Research Institute (IPEA) and the Brazilian Forum on Public Security, reveals that 58,946 people were murdered in Brazil in 2014. Those nearly 60,000 deaths represent 10% of all homicides taken place in the world in 2014. With a national average of 29.1 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the report puts Brazil among the 12 countries with the highest rates in the world. To compare, in the United States, the homicide rate in 2014 was of 4.5, according to statistics by the FBI. Homicides in Brazil affect certain demographics more than others. For example, the homicide rate for men in the age range of 15-29 years old is 61 per 100,000 inhabitants — well above the national average. Stark differences arise when considering race: the rate among black individuals is 37.5 per 100,000 while for non-blacks (which includes both whites and indigenous peoples) is 15.6. Researchers and violence experts such as Daniel Cerqueira (IPEA) and Atila Roque (Amnesty International) have studied why so many people die from murder in Brazil and how this affects so many black and low-income women. For low-income households, the loss of a masculine figure between 25 and 35 years old also represents the loss of a significant part of the family income and an increase in psychological problems like depression and anxiety disorders. For women, this means early widowhood, the absence of partners in particular social groups.