<p>Hanaliy…print out this thread and show it to your daughter. If she hears from objective sources, she may well consider the risks more seriously. Taking advice from mom is never easy for independent kids. Good luck !</p>
<p>And Mini, you emphasize the scale of the rape problem in American universities. Are you suggesting sexual assault is much less common in Brazil, that they only focus on kidnapping? I wonder if the definition of date rape in Brazil is comparable to that currently in the US.</p>
<p>To me, this is more convincing than anecdotes about Egypt and Cambodia:</p>
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<p>My father is a “European-looking” businessman who works for a major British company in Sao Paulo. He takes the subway (and sometimes the bus) to and from work (on Avenida Paulista). He never had problems with crime there. He bothered to learn Portuguese though, so that might be a small factor.</p>
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<p>This is actually recommended by experts as a defense against kidnapping: be inconspicuous, which means riding the bus or subway as the locals do. Don’t draw attention to yourself by traveling by private car, limousine service, or taxi. Traditional kidnapping-for-ransom is directed almost exclusively at high net worth individuals. That means Americans visiting Brazil on business travel are most vulnerable when riding in private cars for hire, or in the private cars of their high-powered Brazilian hosts. This is counterintuitive to us because we associate such insular modes of travel with safety in our own country. But more broadly, kidnapping-for-ransom is just not something likely to affect an inconspicuous American study abroad student, unless she is targeted because her family is internationally known to be wealthy.</p>
<p>Much more common in Brazil than kidnapping-for-ransom is “express” or “lightning” kidnapping. This is more like a slow-motion robbery than traditional kidnapping-for-ransom. The victim is typically held for hours, not days, weeks, or months. In Brazil, it’s most common in urban neighborhoods in Sao Paulo and Rio. In Sao Paulo, the typical pattern is that the kidnappers–frequently well dressed–follow the victim to her car (it’s usually a woman) from a high-end shopping district or shopping mall. They intercept her just before she reaches her car and seize her keys and purse, drive off with her as a captive in her own car, and force her to make ATM withdrawals until she’s reached her withdrawal limit, and/or force her to go on a shopping spree with her credit cards, and/or assume her identity and go on a shopping spree themselves with her stolen identity. A horrifying experience, no doubt. How often does it happen? Well, the US State Department reports that “at least” 250 incidents occurred in Sao Paulo in the first half of 2012, with most of the victims Brazilians; there’s no evidence that foreigners are particularly targeted in this type of crime. This in a city of 11.3 million, making it the largest city in the Americas, and a metro area of 19.9 million, making it the second largest in the Americas. Those strike me as pretty small numbers relative to the size of the city, but use your own judgment.</p>
<p>My judgment would be that an inconspicuous, modestly-living American study-abroad student would be highly unlikely to be the victim of such a crime, especially if said student spent most of her time in a quiet college town somewhere in Sao Paulo state, not in urban Sao Paulo proper. To suggest otherwise is a bit like saying a student should not study at Cornell because New York City–a smaller city than Sao Paulo–has approximately 20,000 robberies per year, many of them armed. (Relevant data point: Sao Paulo State is nearly twice as large in land area as New York State). That’s obviously absurd, but most of us have such limited knowledge of Brazil that we automatically assume that the worst crimes we hear about in urban Sao Paulo or Rio must also be endemic to the entire country–an error we would never make in our own country.</p>
<p>Here’s a U.S. State Department analysis:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.afimac-us.com/bulletin/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Sao-Paulo-Kidnappings.pdf[/url]”>http://www.afimac-us.com/bulletin/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Sao-Paulo-Kidnappings.pdf</a></p>
<p>I think CC is dangerous, since this thread has been hijacked by Mini’s agenda.</p>
<p>OP, I would trust the advice of someone from Brazil who knows the area where your D will mostly be spending her visit. If the local thinks it’s safe, I would let her go and enjoy herself. As I said before, H does know Brazil and would have let D go to certain areas but not to others.</p>
<p>Getting back to the OP’s original question…</p>
<p>My daughter was researching a study-abroad opportunity in Rio for winter semester 2014. We called my nephew’s Brazilian wife to get her advice on safety. She researched the area where the students would be staying & studying and her opinion was that it should be safe. That was the best she could offer. There are real risks that cannot necessarily be avoided with ‘street smarts’.</p>
<p>“Should be safe” is the best you can offer for anyplace. An elementary school, a movie theater, or a suburban mall should all be safe, and a naval base should be really, really safe. Yet… </p>
<p>I would never put a college fraternity house in the “should be safe” category, though.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that you say that - I get that from a “girl” perspective. From a “guy” perspective, I feel better about S’s personal safety in his fraternity house than I did when he lived in another part of campus (and there were some robberies / muggings right outside his dorm). His campus is situated such that it is possible that someone looking for trouble might come around – and no one looking to break and enter is going to target a house full of guys.</p>
<p>^ Interesting. I can see your point, PG. Yes, I suppose I was only thinking of it from the perspective of a girl at a party there. That said, S’s frat was not all that “safe” for the brothers either, as some of them got embroiled in two big scandals that garnered national attention.</p>
<p>OP, I’m just curious - as an international studies major, does your daughter have some long-term interest in focusing on Portuguese-speaking parts of the world? It doesn’t seem like the most helpful language to immerse herself in otherwise. I guess I’m only bringing this up because, given the genuine safety concerns, I would probably weigh in the importance of this experience beyond the college program itself. One of my kids has spent a lot of time in Africa and South America, so I relate to your concerns. Good luck.</p>
<p>My 21 year old son (a college junior) spent 6 months in Rio - a spring semester in a study abroad program, followed by an unrelated summer work internship. During the semester he was placed in a homestay, as were all the kids in the program. All were in safe well-located areas & pretty happy with the situation. They commuted to classes via public transportation. Girls were always placed with at least 1 other girl in the homestay & the study abroad company took particular care to make sure their locations were considered “good” areas. Once the semester ended, my son lived on his own in a rental apt for a couple of months; again location, location, location is key. According to my son & his friends (male & female), as long as you use common sense, you’re fine - in other words, stay in groups at night, do not go on the beach at night, & do not go into deserted areas, etc. Once my husband & I flew out to visit him in Rio, we felt greatly relieved by what we experienced there. It’s a fantastic city with very friendly people. Yes, you have to be aware of your surroundings (not unlike NYC at night), but in general the kids had a wonderful experience. Sao Paulo, however, is entirely different from Rio - much denser population, more violence/crime, & no beaches. I would not have been as comfortable with Sao Paulo.</p>
<p>Check out the U.S. State Dept. website. It provides a security synopsis.</p>
<p>Let me just add this. Crime has been on the increase in brazil. So someone who went a couple of years ago had it a little better. You may want to even speak with someone in the state department. She absolutely needs to go with her eyes wide open if she does go and understand to be wary.</p>
<p>My son’s program in Rio was this past spring semester & summer. If you’d like to PM me for more info, feel free. In addition, my husband & I spent several days there as well. We too were initially concerned with the crime & kidnapping possibilities, but quickly relaxed based on feedback we received from our son and based on our own experience there touring about.</p>
<p>One more important point to add - Rio is an expensive city & the kids need to take taxis in the evenings to get around for safety reasons. It’s just a “rule” that all the kids seemed to follow. Public transport during the day is fine although the traffic is horrendous, but at night, taxis are a must. Similarly, when you go the beach with friends, it’s the practice to always have 1 person stay with everyone’s stuff (they bring only the most minimal stuff to the beach) while the others go into the water. It’s little things like that that you have to be aware of there, but on the whole it’s a fantastic place to be.</p>
<p>I am a Brazilian studying in the US. I have many American friends who went to Brazil and loved their experience; they had no safety issues whatsoever. I lived in Brazil for 18 years and have never been a victim of any type of crime nor have I known any victim of a violent crime.
It is very sad how misinformed and ignorant some of the posts are. This thread treats Brazil as a war torn country. It is not, although the internet may tell you otherwise; people who have actually been in Brazil know this. The security situation in most cities has actually improved a lot since the last two years.
To be fair, my family has always taken security precautions when it comes physical integrity, including purchase armored vehicles as some of you pointed out as a trend; however, I don’t see them as really necessary, our family has interest in well known businesses therefore the paranoia, but I don’t think those precautions make a big difference anyways as criminals will always find their ways.
Honestly, I am not sure how a foreign student would be considered a desirable target for kidnaping, unless he or she comes from a extremely wealthy family and the criminals have awareness of this specific student background. I might be wrong, but I would be surprised if anyone could show me any relevant statistic on the number of foreigners kidnapped in Brazil.
As to other types of violent crimes, you just want to have common sense. I have always lived in areas considered safe in Brazil, but I have been to some pretty “dangerous” (low income) areas in several occasions for community service projects too; I would say the odds of something happening if you venture in those areas are high, much higher than in the bad parts of the US; but hey, I am still here. If you go to bad areas be aware of it, and if you avoid bad places at all you are gonna be just fine.
Since I have come to the US I have known more people who were victimized by crime than I have known in Brazil. My college is located in a pretty dangerous city and some of my friends were robbed at gunpoint this semester at the heart of our campus.I myself have been approached a couple of times by meth addicts demanding me money around the campus. So yes, I feel less safe here on this campus than walking alone at night in some parts of S</p>
Here is an update on our end: DD studied in Brazil this summer… She had a great/amazing experience, nothing horrible happened. She studied in Florianopolis. I guess sometimes you just have to let go.
I have expat associates who have commented on how unsafe Rio is. And these associates travel A LOT.
Probably the same reason Qatar got the World Cup…