Violence in Disaster Situations: The case of rio grande do sul - Brazil in the Media

Introduction: Factors such as social inequality, poverty, and spatial vulnerability contribute significantly to increased violence and insecurity in natural or induced disasters, especially in already marginalized communities. This study aims to analyze the most frequent vocabularies in media reports dealing with violence during the 2024 floods in Rio Grande do Sul. Methods: Documentary research with a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive approach, using reports from newspapers with wide circulation in Brazil.Results: twelve lexicons were identified with the highest frequency: shelters, people, violence, women, crimes, looting, security, tragedy, sexual, children, abuse and rape. Discussion: Media coverage influences the social construction of catastrophe. Likewise, the presence of electronic media and the dissemination of daily visual coverage of events, the selection of reports and testimonies from those affected, make it possible to follow events practically on the spot. Conclusions: Violence predominated among women and children, in shelters that were supposed to be safe places in the face of the catastrophe. Media plays a fundamental role in publicizing cases of violence, making governments act effectively to prevent and manage violence. Furthermore, the disaster scenario requires increasingly active multi-professional action, given the complexity involved.