The female face of poverty in the Contested Midwest territory, Santa Catarina

Abstract

In Brazil, women have achieved legal equality since the 1988 Constitution. In the past years, state public policies aimed at groups of greater social vulnerability, have brought women to a central position in family management. It is the relation between these women and the social fragility, articulated to public policies of fighting poverty, that this research analyzes. The field research was performed in the west region of Santa Catarina, between April and May of 2016. We selected ten cities based on criteria of the diversity of social, economic, and demographic contexts and interviewed 40 families assisted by the Bolsa Familia Program, besides ten social assistance professionals. As a data collection method, we used semi-structured interviews. The research results indicate that in the gender division of labor, domestic activities and childcare are the responsibility of women and imply the reinforcement of the poverty situation, generating deprivation about paid work, since they require the constant presence in the homes. Another situation of vulnerability is domestic violence, which led some women to choose to end the affective relationship, which forced them, in most cases, to assume the caring and support of their children. Others, fearing reprisals, do not perform complaints to the competent bodies. The interviewed women live in greater vulnerability than men and although the public policies implemented in the last decades have improved their living conditions, there are no specific actions aimed at their emancipation.