Gender violence, social inequalities and sexuality: the experiences of young women in Belo Horizonte

• Autor(a) principal: Chacham, Alessandra Sampaio
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Jayme, Juliana Gonzaga
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Civitas - Revista de Ciências Sociais (Porto Alegre. Online)
• Texto Completo: https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/index.php/civitas/article/view/21760
• topic: Gender. Youth. Gender violence. Autonomy. Sexuality. Inequalities.; Gênero. Juventude. Violência de gênero. Autonomia. Sexualidade. Desigualdades.; Mulheres e Violência

In this article we analyze how gender violence and social class inequalities intersect in the experiences of young women from different social classes with their sexuality. Departing from an analysis using both quantitative and qualitative data collected among young women who lived in middle-class neighborhoods and in poor communities (favelas) located in the central-south region of Belo Horizonte, we investigated the impact of gender violence on these young women’s sexuality. Our results showed how a partner’s violent and controlling behavior reduces young woman’s autonomy in this area, affecting her capacity of negotiating condom use, exposing her to unplanned pregnancies and STI’s, although this influence is moderated by social class. We also observed how the strong presence of traditional stereotypes of gender roles in the discourse of young women from both social classes contributed to naturalize gender violence, especially among young women of lower class.