Here in Rio, there is definitely crime to be wary of. From what I can tell, the crime is mainly normal big-city street crime. Pickpockets, grabbing cell phones, etc. Obviously, bigger, more serious stuff happens, but this is a big metropolitan area and bigger, more serious stuff always happens in big cities.
The word for "robbed" in Portuguese is "assaltado", which sounds remarkably like "assaulted" in English. So I hear these stories that everyone tells of being "assaltado" and I'm sure everyone has been physically assaulted at gunpoint. That their person has been violated in some way. Maybe not raped, but they've been beaten up at knifepoint for $20 in their pocketbook.
And I freak out a little.
But then I remind myself that they've been robbed. Like pickpocketed. Which is still horrible, but their person has not been attacked, which to me is the worst thing I can imagine. What's happened to them happens all over the world, every single day, to tourists and residents alike. Crimes of opportunity.
And then I calm down a little and feel like I can go outside to face the world again.
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