Invisibility on the streets of Sao Paulo City: stories, violence, migration, and a census of homelessness indigenous population

Abstract

This article reflects on the history of violence against the homelessness Indigenous population in the city of São Paulo, drawing upon a 2025 handbook by CIMI (Indigenous Missionary Council). Addressing the so-called "census gap" and the invisibility of Indigenous people on the capital's streets in previous homelessness population censuses, I monitored—during my postdoctoral fellowship (FSP-USP, Procad/Capes)—the actions taken by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) in collaboration with social workers and technical staff from SMADs (Municipal Secretariat for Social Development). The MPF requested explanations from municipal authorities regarding the Secretariat's administrative organization and planning concerning the services and care provided—or not provided—to the homelessness population, particularly Indigenous individuals. A key focus was the logistical and methodological preparation of the *Censo Pop. Rua* (2026) and the training of enumerators from the Qualitest Institute for data collection among Indigenous people—many of whom do not self-identify as Indigenous due to fear of reprisals, prejudice, and racial violence. Finally, the article outlines the challenges involved in conducting a census of an invisible population—comprising individuals who are homeless or living in occupations, characterized by extreme mobility and severe psychological distress stemming from the risks and extreme vulnerabilities of street life—as part of Brazil's First Homelessness Population Census to be carried out by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).