ABSTRACT
The aim of the article is to present preliminary research results on the role of institutional representatives of the justice system during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.It is assumed that the existing approaches to analyze the judicial system through surveys and censuses through official sources is unable to identify hidden figures that involve domestic violence. Specifically, victims were for some reason unable to access the services of the justice system. Consequently, the research team focused on the minutes of the meetings held by the State Coordination of Women in Situations of Domestic Violence (Coem) for documentary analysis. It is an agency of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro which, through periodic meetings, acted strategically in the responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in identifying problems of access to justice and for the integration of a coping network. As a methodological procedure, we used situational analysis to codify and systematize the results found: identification of barriers to access, the way in which institutions act. We observe that this methodology, based on case-by-case and inductive procedures, can be an important tool for institutions to deal with the topic. We also seek to bring reflections on the use of quantitative and qualitative techniques in empirical research involving violence against women. © 2023 Revista de Estudos Empiricos em Direito. All rights reserved.