Women living on the street: an intersectional analysis of their ways of living and the support network they build for themselves

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the ways of living and support networks that women living on the streets build for themselves. We conducted a qualitative exploratory study incorporating ethnographic elements with women living on the streets in Rio de Janeiro. The data were analyzed in three stages: contact with the study setting; meetings with women living on the streets during the work undertaken by a mobile clinic; and processing/analysis of the women”s experiences. The following thematic categories were identified: “intersectionalities and the lives of women on the streets”, “broken networks that cause suffering to women living on the streets”; and “support networks that women living on the streets build for themselves”. The findings reveal the effects of racism, patriarchy, class oppression and other interconnected oppressions that cause suffering, highlighting the construction of support networks promoted by the experiences of living on the street. Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, it was possible to reflect on the need to understand the forms of oppression that traverse women”s bodies to provide care oriented towards social justice.

This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit: