“Nobody wants to be raped, but that's what happens to us”

Towards Intersectional Readings of the Possibilities of Protecting and Caring for Women

Abstract

This article analyzes social inequality in Brazil, moving beyond economist approaches and highlighting its territorial, age, and gender dynamics. Our objective is to reflect on how inequality manifests intersectionally, taking as a starting point the trajectory of Mariana, a white single mother living in the periphery of Baixada Santista, who experienced collective sexual, domestic, and state violence. The research adopts a thinking-feeling methodology, which understands accompaniment as a continuous process of life production, co-constructing knowledge through ethical encounter and listening, moving away from formal logics and objectification. Mariana's study, conducted through psycho-legal support, reveals the psychosocial repercussions of violence and the insufficiency of social protection policies, such as the Maria da Penha Law, which often re-victimize women and focus on the aggressor. The analysis delves into how institutional violence and domestic violence intertwine, making women target bodies in a "civil war," and exposes the social production of victim blaming. The final considerations emphasize that the struggle for social justice requires dismantling patriarchal and colonial structures that perpetuate inequality, promoting women's autonomy and full lives.