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Latest News
  • [ June 1, 2026 ] Visiting Rio Before July 30th? Don’t Miss ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition at the Favela Museum Overlooking Ipanema: ‘We Learned to Survive So We Can Tell Others How’ by Community Contributors
  • [ May 31, 2026 ] Rio de Janeiro Evictions Museum Celebrates Ten Years of Art, Memory and Resistance Since the Olympic Games #LegacyWatch
  • [ May 31, 2026 ] Critical Urban Park in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone Is at Risk of Disappearing After Decades of Government Neglect *Highlight
  • [ May 27, 2026 ] ‘We Belong to the Land’: An Interview With John Mussington on the Urgency of Learning from Barbuda’s Communal Land System [VIDEO] #GentrificationWatch
  • [ May 25, 2026 ] As the World Cup Kicks Off Across North America, Communities in Host Cities Are Pushing Back Against Rising Rents—With a Tool Born in the Civil Rights Movement [RELEASE] #GentrificationWatch
HomePolice Brutality

Police Brutality

#MediaWatch

2025 Retrospective of Top International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas

By Oksana Polańska • December 26, 2025

Clique aqui para Português From 2013 to 2023, RioOnWatch ran the Best and Worst International Reporting on Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas series. It began, quite symptomatically, with the Worst International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas: 2013, […]

According to one of the recent poll, 87% of Rio's favelas residents supposedly support the police operation that led to the deadliest massacre in Rio de Janeiro's History. Nevertheless, nation-wide favela-led post-massacre protests have shown otherwise. The sign reads 'Resident, Not a Criminal.' Photo: Vinícius Ribeiro
#MediaWatch

Why the Pre-Electoral Opinion Polling Published Following Rio de Janeiro’s ‘Mega Police Operation’ Is Misleading

By Scott Salmon • November 7, 2025

Clique aqui para Português On Tuesday, October 28, Brazil’s deadliest police operation resulted in over 120 people dead, leaving bodies behind wherever they fell, strewn for neighbors and families to retrieve, in the Alemão and […]

*Highlight

Sustainable Favela Network International Exchange, Part 2: Pandemic Organizing in 5 Nations

By Gabriela Buffon Vargas • September 13, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This is the second of two articles covering the events of the 1st Sustainable Favela Network International Exchange, which took place online on August 28, 2021. Read the first part here. Continuing […]

#ParticipationWatch

At First International Favela Exchange, Communities from Five Nations Show How To Implement Climate Justice

By Julia Rosselli • September 12, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This is the first of two articles covering the events of the 1st Sustainable Favela Network International Exchange, which took place online on August 28, 2021. Read the second part here. […]

urgent
#CommunityMedia

Military Police Break Cell Phone of Voz das Comunidades Team During Operation in Alemão

By Melissa Cannabrava • Translation by Ikrom Alajoulin • January 13, 2021

Clique aqui para Português An intense shootout in Complexo do Alemão, in the area known as Area 5, frightens residents, who reported shots since 8am this Wednesday (January 13). The police armored vehicle (caveirão) headed […]

Posts pagination

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RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

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Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
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  • Communities
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  • Policies
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    • Housing
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    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
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    • Listicles
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    • Reference
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    • Translated Articles
  • About
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