Health administrators and public policies to deal with gender violence against women in S?o Paulo, BrazilGestores de salud y lucha frente a la violencia de género contra las mujeres: políticas públicas y su implementación en Sao Paulo, Brasil

摘要

The study focuses on policies to deal with violence against women in the city of S?o Paulo, Brazil. The objectives were to map the public policies and the proposals for institutional organization of a network of comprehensive care, in addition to analyzing the implementation of these policies, highlighting the health sector, with reports by administrators and policymakers. The study addresses the relationship between management practice and the public policy provisions, the weight of administrators’ personal values and perspectives, and the weight of the socially dominant discourse in decision-making for implementation of these policies. Data were produced through semi-structured interviews with 32 administrators working at different levels in the institutional organization of the Municipal Health Department, including some policymakers in the state and national scenarios. The body of data were submitted to thematic content analysis, examining each of the interviews and relating them to the literature and conceptual framework. The study concludes that health administrators, as agents of practices, are influenced by the prevailing structures and beliefs and reference to their social and historical context for decision-making. However, when they relate to such structures, they are also capable of intervening in the ways care is produced and provided for women in situations of violence, especially by addressing the training and awareness-raising processes and new references concerning recognition of women’s rights as human rights.