Carecteristicas sociais das mulheres chefes de agregado familiar e suas estratégias de sobrevivências em contexto peri – urbano: o caso de Bairro Luis Cabral

Abstract

Motivated by the discussions that arose in the debate on the new Family Law and more particularly in the context of the head of the household, this research was carried out in the form of a preliminary internship report with the aim of identifying the social characteristics of “female heads of household”, their survival strategies, as well as testing the operational value of this conflict in other socio-historical contexts. Thirty semi-targeted interviews were conducted with a different group of women according to their area of ​​origin, education level and respective categories: widows, abandoned, single mothers, women with an emigrant and divorced spouse. Preliminary data indicate that for their survival, they resort to small commercial activities in the informal sector, trigger social networks in search of solidarity in the different social spaces where they are interrelated (kinship, neighborhood and religion) and seek to benefit from social assistance programs. of INAS. Because a gender relations approach was used, it was observed that despite providing support for their dependents, they do have a power delegated by spouses and family groups in making important decisions about their life, their household and their dependents; legitimizing the thesis that the competencies and symbolic attributes of leadership are of male competence.