Justice for Marielle FRANCO: in pictures

Vikki Marie Page. 21/08/2025.

On the 14th of March 2018, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, city councilwoman Marielle Franco was brutally assassinated in a planned and targeted attack whilst on her way home from an event, which left her and her driver, Anderson Gomes, dead, while her press officer, Fernanda Chaves, survived.

Marielle was elected in 2017 as a councillor representing the Party for Socialism and Liberty (PSOL). Although this was Marielle’s first time running, she received the 5th highest number of votes of all the candidates.

Yet the significance of Marielle’s election went further. Born and raised in the large favela community Complexo de Maré, a Black, queer woman and human rights advocate, Marielle’s politics were grounded in intersectional and Black feminism and a commitment to fighting injustice and inequality. Her election brought with it hope that the voices of those so frequently ignored in Rio de Janeiro would be amplified in local politics.

Marielle’s assassination shocked not only those who voted for her, but the shockwaves rippled across Brazil and the world. Whilst political violence is not uncommon in Brazil, Marielle and Anderson’s murder, the execution-style nature of it, undertaken in the centre of the city, after an event centred on young Black women, carried symbolic significance. This act of violence against Marielle was also an attack against the politics and communities Marielle represented. Her life and death captured imaginaries far beyond what many expected.

The struggle for justice for Marielle has been long and ongoing. The investigation, riddled with corruption, sabotage and incompetence, has only in the last years started to yield answers as to who killed Marielle and Anderson, who ordered Marielle’s killing and why. That justice is starting, slowly, to be delivered has only been made possible because of the tireless efforts of Marielle’s family, friends, colleagues and activists who have fought for answers.

This photo essay looks at an example of this. Taken on the 6th anniversary of Marielle’s murder, in Rio de Janeiro, these photos form part of doctoral research exploring the visual potencia of images of Marielle and their affective power.