Social initiatives in Brazil use art to address youth violence

Social initiatives in Brazil are utilizing art and memory to address violence against children and adolescents. In São Gonçalo, the ‘Projeto João Pedro Vive’, led by the Movimento de Mulheres em São Gonçalo (MMSG) with support from CEDAE, recently concluded its 2025-2026 cycle. The project honors the memory of João Pedro Matos Pinto, a teenager killed by police in 2020, through over 100 activities including theater, music, and pedagogical workshops aimed at promoting human rights and social protection in the Itaoca region.

In Rio de Janeiro, the ‘Voz das Comunidades’ project, ‘Diário de Classe’, received six gold medals and a Grand Prize in Direct Marketing at the Prêmio Colunistas. The initiative uses an artisanal printed material designed to look like a school attendance book to document the names of children and adolescents killed by stray bullets during police operations in favelas. The project aims to humanize statistics by sharing the stories of victims and providing safety guidance for students and teachers during armed confrontations.