Early one morning in late May, Gabriella Ferreira, a 41-year-old hairdresser, was awakened by the sound of gunfire. A police operation was underway a couple of kilometres away in Vila Cruzeiro, a favela in Rio de Janeiro. Five hours later, a rifle shot killed Gabriella inside her home.
According to the forensics report, the fatal shot was from a “high-kinetic energy (rifle), made from a long distance, and entered through the left scapular region (back), exiting through the clavicular region (front).” More than 20 people had been shot dead in Vila Cruzeiro over a 12-hour period.
But Gabriella’s death was not an isolated case. All too often, women are killed by stray bullets on the streets of Brazilian cities, or shot dead for political reasons. At home, they suffer gun-related violence.
