A group of teenage girls living in Rio de Janeiro's Santa Marta
favela celebrated their 15th birthdays on Friday with a lavish ball
organised by the city's Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) programme.
In parts of Latin America, a girl's 15th birthday is traditionally celebrated with a big party marking the transition from childhood to womanhood.
In Portuguese-speaking Brazil, the celebration is called "festa de debutantes" or debutantes' ball.
Hosting such balls is typically a tradition of the country's wealthy, but these girls from the Santa Marta favela were given star treatment.
Volunteers did the girls' make up and styled their hair and a boutique lent them the gowns.
"I always went to 15-year-old parties, debutante balls, but I never thought I would be honoured in one. And I think this one will be perfect, because I will be with my friends and the people I like," said 15 year old Naia Ferreira da Costa.
The Santa Marta favela is among several that are part of Rio's "pacification" programme that began in 2008, in part to secure the city ahead of this year's World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
The programme sees police and at times army troops invade favelas, push out drug gangs and set up permanent posts in areas where traffickers had held sway for decades.
"The debutante ball has the objective of integrating the military police with the girls and residents of the community, and give this opportunity for these girls to make their dream come true, to have their 15 year old birthday party, which they couldn't make happen for financial reasons," said Captain Marcio Rocha, Commander of the Pacifying Police Unit of Santa Marta.
The girls arrived at their debutante ball in police vehicles and were escorted by police officers into the building.
In order to be selected for the ball, the girls had to write an essay describing how life had changed since the UPPs arrived in their communities.
Since the inception of the security programme, police have created 37 permanent "pacification units" that they say cover an area with a population of 1.5 million.
Murders are down in those areas and the number of shootouts has dropped, but some residents have accused police of heavy-handed tactics.
In parts of Latin America, a girl's 15th birthday is traditionally celebrated with a big party marking the transition from childhood to womanhood.
In Portuguese-speaking Brazil, the celebration is called "festa de debutantes" or debutantes' ball.
Hosting such balls is typically a tradition of the country's wealthy, but these girls from the Santa Marta favela were given star treatment.
Volunteers did the girls' make up and styled their hair and a boutique lent them the gowns.
"I always went to 15-year-old parties, debutante balls, but I never thought I would be honoured in one. And I think this one will be perfect, because I will be with my friends and the people I like," said 15 year old Naia Ferreira da Costa.
The Santa Marta favela is among several that are part of Rio's "pacification" programme that began in 2008, in part to secure the city ahead of this year's World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
The programme sees police and at times army troops invade favelas, push out drug gangs and set up permanent posts in areas where traffickers had held sway for decades.
"The debutante ball has the objective of integrating the military police with the girls and residents of the community, and give this opportunity for these girls to make their dream come true, to have their 15 year old birthday party, which they couldn't make happen for financial reasons," said Captain Marcio Rocha, Commander of the Pacifying Police Unit of Santa Marta.
The girls arrived at their debutante ball in police vehicles and were escorted by police officers into the building.
In order to be selected for the ball, the girls had to write an essay describing how life had changed since the UPPs arrived in their communities.
Since the inception of the security programme, police have created 37 permanent "pacification units" that they say cover an area with a population of 1.5 million.
Murders are down in those areas and the number of shootouts has dropped, but some residents have accused police of heavy-handed tactics.
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