DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS: NARRATIVES OF WOMEN WASTE PICKERS

Abstract

The objective was to analyze the interface between domestic violence and psychological distress from the perspective of women waste pickers. This is a qualitative study with a social constructionist approach conducted with 20 women waste pickers, residents of the Federal District, Brazil. Semi-structured interviews, as an instrument for data collection, and Association of Ideas maps were used to analyze the speech contents. The contents extracted from the collected narratives are divided into three thematic categories: violence producing psychological suffering, resources to deal with violence, and work and psychological suffering among women who work with solid waste. At work, personal memories of the suffering lived and experienced in the present time in the workplace were noticed. In the view of the women, aid resources are scarce, even with the knowledge of the legal resource. However, there were signs of self-knowledge of the right to life, respect and the worth of being a woman. Strategies of resistance with psychosocial, legal, and protection services of women are needed in order to proactively support the reduction of their vulnerabilities and facilitate the expansion of their capacities to address the causes of violence, and to produce networks of care, support, and prevention that include their children.