Women's Department Takes Prevention Action Against Violence to Madero Employees

Prefeitura de Ponta Grossa, through the Department of Women, carried out an action to prevent violence against women with employees of the company Madero. The activity aimed to promote reflection on behaviors, speeches and everyday situations that can reinforce inequalities and different forms of violence.

The Department of Women is linked to the Municipal Secretariat of Family and Social Development. During the action, men and women participated jointly in the awareness activities.

For the municipal secretary of Family and Social Development, Camila Calisto Sanches, taking the debate inside the companies helps to expand the network of protection for women.

“When men and women stop to reflect together on what they say and what they listen to, we broaden the network of protection and strengthen a culture of respect in the city,” he says.

Dynamic “I’ve heard it”

One of the activities carried out was called “I’ve heard this before”. The dynamics used a mural with common phrases in everyday life, but which can reproduce ideas related to the control, guilt, devaluation and naturalization of violence against women.

Participants were asked to identify which expressions they had already heard, witnessed being said to another woman or even received directly.

The sentences selected by the participants were fixed on a collective mural and used as a starting point for the discussion.

Among the expressions presented were:

“You’re exaggerating, it was just a joke.”

“If he’s jealous, it’s because he likes you.”

“My wife doesn’t have to work.”

“At least he doesn’t hit you.”

From the examples, the team of the Department of Women discussed how seemingly common phrases can contribute to the normalization of abusive behaviors and unequal relationships.

Violence can begin in naturalized behaviors

According to the director of the Department of Women, Bruna Balsano, the proposal also seeks to make the participants recognize situations that often end up being treated as normal in daily life.

“Often violence begins with a phrase that everyone has heard and no one has questioned. To prevent violence is also to question what we have learned to consider normal, and this exercise must involve men as much as women,” she said.

The initiative reinforces that the prevention of violence does not only involve situations of physical aggression, but also the identification of attitudes and behaviors that can represent forms of control, embarrassment and devaluation.

Continuous action on Ponta Grossa

The activity is part of the permanent work developed by the Department of Women in Ponta Grossa. The agency works in the prevention of violence, promotion of women's rights, encouragement of gender equality and the realization of educational activities in different spaces of the community.

Companies and institutions interested in receiving similar actions can contact the Department of Women by phone (42) 3220-1048 or by e-mail [email protected].

Read also: https://bntonline.com.br/viva-cultura-na-minha-vila-dona-luiza/