Respostas à violência contra a mulher nas mídias sociais de órgãos governamentais durante a Emergência em Saúde Pública de Importância Nacional (ESPIN) pela covid-19

Abstract

This dissertation falls within the scope of Public Health, considering some connections between gender, violence, and communication and information in health. Health communication, in this perspective, concerns the role of state media in raising awareness about violence against women, informing and influencing individuals' and communities' decisions with the aim of transforming attitudes and enabling changes in the short and long term. Considering the challenges of disseminating reporting mechanisms and resources for addressing violence against women, especially in times of movement restriction and limited access to support networks, this research sought to understand how the executive power of the Brazilian State responded to the increase in this form of violence during the Public Health Emergency of National Importance due to covid-19. The study analyzes the responses of the federal executive power, particularly the preventive strategies/actions provided for in the Maria da Penha Law, based on publications on the website and social media of the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH). The research, of a documentary, exploratory, and qualitative nature, identified and analyzed 16 publications. It was found that MMFDH favored Facebook as a communication channel, which may have impacted the reach of the publications. 70% of the posts do not have a specific recipient and focus on tertiary prevention. The characters and images represented as female are mostly white and young, not reflecting the diversity of the Brazilian population in terms of race, color, age group, and regionalism; the male figure, whether as support or potential aggressor, appears in a very superficial manner. It is also noted that the communication carried out by MMFDH's media and website follows a campaign-like pattern, with a strong emphasis on reporting, offering action only after the crime has been committed, which reinforces only the punitive dimension of the law and reaffirms women's position as victims. The fact that the sole proposal is the promotion of the Ligue 180 hotline for reporting demonstrates the lack of political will and the absence of other public policies by the Federal Government. The analysis also suggests that, despite psychological violence being recognized by Law nº. 14.188/2021, MMFDH chose not to give visibility and omitted this update from its social networks and website, fostering a sensitivity that only encompasses a portion of the population: those who continue to experience and reinforce gender asymmetries, adhering to conservative beliefs. Finally, we conclude that MMFDH's responses lean towards a neoconservative direction based on the idea that the heteronormative nuclear family is the answer to social dysfunctions, rather than the State. Therefore, they focus on strengthening family structure and bonds so that families can act in their own ways in the face of circumstances, removing women's rights from their public policies and returning the problem of violence to the private sphere.