Study crosses data on the map of areas dominated by armed groups and the location of public schools
About half of elementary and high school students from public schools undergo impacts of armed violence in the metropolitan region of Rio. The information is in the report “EDUCATION UNDER SERCO: The schools of Great Rio impacted by armed violence”, Released on last Thursday (29.MAI.2025).
More than 800,000 children and adolescents, from 1,800 public schools in the capital and from 19 more municipalities in the region, study in areas dominated by armed groups. This is the report (PDF – 2 MB).
The research was conducted by UNICEF (United Nations Fund for Childhood), IFC (Fogo Cruzado Institute), Geni-UFF (New Illegalism Study Group, Fluminense Federal University), and CERES-IESP (Center for the Study of Wealth and Social Stratification), using information from 2022.
The study crosses data on the map of areas dominated by armed groups, especially factions and militias, and the location of public schools. From this information, the conclusion is that most of the students were, to a greater or lesser extent, in contexts of armed violence –48% of students from 19 municipalities of Greater Rio and 55% of students in the state capital are affected.
According to the survey in Rio, more than half of schools are in dominated areas, 28.4% in militia regions and 30% trafficking. In other cities in the region, the proportion of schools in areas of trafficking is similar (29.2%), but the influence of militias is significantly lower (9.6%).
The report says that the city of Rio has only 41.6% of its schools located in areas not dominated by armed groups. There are differences between the regions of the city. While 29 schools in the south of the state capital, or 30% of the total, recorded at least one episode of acute armed violence in its neighborhood, in the North Zone this number reaches 510, equivalent to 65% of schools.
Shooting
In 2022, the year considered in the survey, more than 4,400 shootings were accounted for in situations or non -police operations/actions near schools. The northern zone of Rio concentrates the largest number of occurrences among the places analyzed: in one year, schools in the region were affected 1,714 times by shootings.
In the Baixada Fluminense, 1,110 were accounted for. The southern zone of Rio, a prime area of the capital, is the region that has fewer schools in areas dominated by armed groups and is also the one that had fewer schools affected. There were 29 schools hit by 86 shootings.
The study cites as worrying the frequency with which some schools are exposed to episodes of armed violence. In 2022, the same school from São Gonçalo recorded 18 episodes of acute armed violence, which means, on average, a shooting every two weeks. The school leads the ranking of more affected units.
The report also shows the high incidence of shootings in areas with more police operations. The number of shootings in police actions was 3 times higher in controlled areas than in untt controlled locations.
The municipalities analyzed were: Rio de Janeiro, Purple Belford, Duque de Caxias, Guapimirim, Itaboraí, Itaguaí, Japeri, Magé, Maricá, Mesquita, Nilópolis, Niterói, Nova Iguaçu, Paracambi, Queimados, Rio Bonito, Seropédica, Sao Gonçalo, Sao Joao de Meriti and Tanguá.
Recommended actions
The publication brings a series of recommendations to public actors to prevent armed violence against children and adolescents, among them:
- implement and expand resilience protocols in services and communities;
- design and implement a service and community repair model;
- integrate security and education policies and eradicate the negative impacts of police operations around schools;
- Implement the Agatha Felix Law, which establishes that all crimes against children and adolescents in the state of Rio de Janeiro will have priority in investigations;
- Draw and implement a protective model of public security for childhood and adolescence, and face with intelligence and investigation the armed groups in Rio de Janeiro;
- strengthen an education that protects against violence.
The report released is the 1st in a series of 2 studies. In the 2nd, the effects of the influence of armed violence on learning and school abandonment rate will be evaluated.
With information from .
