Abstract
Little is known about how perceptions of government affects women's views of violence against women. This qualitative study examines women's perceptions of violence against women laws and trust in the health and legal sector response in São Paulo State, Brazil. Thirty interviews with female residents of Santo André, 18 years and older, were audio recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes using MAXQDA12 software. All women were familiar with at least one federal violence against women law. They expressed widespread lack of trust in the government. They viewed the legal sector as ineffective and felt violence against women laws have little impact, or exacerbate violence. Disdain for the health sector was less prominent than for the legal sector. A generalized lack of trust in government manifests as a lack of confidence in these laws for women seeking support through legal and health sectors. Adoption of legal protections for women is a significant accomplishment. However, health and legal sector violence against women response needs to consider perceptions of government, how violence against women laws are operationalized, and the role of each sector in ensuring women's safety. Violence against women response efforts should include standardized intersectoral procedures including referral to accessible resources and means of screening women who may be at high risk for femicide.
Highlights
Public trust in government plays a critical role in the success or failure of policies that require the cooperation and compliance of citizens [1,2]
In addressing violence against women, participants described an overarching distrust in the broader government often referred to as “the law” or “politics” without clear distinctions between strata of government. This was linked to views of inefficacy, corruption and scandals, including as high as the office of the president. This distrust was sometimes described as a hopelessness, including futility in basic political processes like voting, which is mandatory in Brazil
While the Brazilian State has made laudable efforts to protect women through laws such as the Maria da Penha Law (2006) and Femicide Law (2015), the perceptions of the efficacy of these laws, as well as legal and health services appears to be impacted by a general distrust in the Brazilian government [7,11]
Summary
Public trust in government plays a critical role in the success or failure of policies that require the cooperation and compliance of citizens [1,2]. Citizens believe most politicians are corrupt and act in their own self-interest; trust in government institutions remains objectively low [4,6]. As a result of massive public education campaigns, over 95% of Brazilians are aware of the law’s existence 10. Several studies suggest widespread awareness of the law has resulted in greater reporting [11,12]. Widespread impunity for crimes against women remains a major contributing factor to high female homicide rates in Latin America, including Brazil [12,13,14]. Following the law’s passage, the female homicide rate experienced a slight decrease and rose quickly in subsequent years; a similar pattern was observed among reported rates of violence against women [12,14]
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