A pesquisa crítica na trama de narrativas: desenredando histórias de assédio sexual nas redes sociais / Critical research in a plot of narratives: untangling stories of sexual harassment on social media

Os sites de redes sociais vêm impulsionando protestos antissexistas, nos quais mulheres narram suas experiências de violência sexual e também apoiam outras mulheres com histórias semelhantes. No protesto #PrimeiroAssédio, milhares de mulheres aceitaram o convite para contar suas primeiras histórias de assédio sexual. Este artigo reflete sobre os desafios da pesquisa social crítica e ética com vítimas de assédio sexual que narram suas experiências em plataformas digitais. Tal pesquisa implica desenlear uma trama que envolve as narrativas dominantes acerca dos corpos, papéis, direitos e deveres das mulheres; as contranarrativas das mulheres que contestam as narrativas dominantes; e as narrativas construídas pelas pesquisadoras sobre as histórias contadas. O artigo discute o que está em jogo ao se escolher como narrar, incluindo a narração acadêmico-científica que se debruça sobre essas histórias. Em conclusão, as autoras entendem sua escrita como um ato político voltado para a transformação social e contra a condição subalterna feminina. As pesquisadoras trabalham para fortalecer as vozes das mulheres que denunciam a violência sexual, operando em aliança com elas, enquanto também contestam as narrativas hegemônicas de base patriarcal.

This article reflects on the challenges of critical social research with victims of sexual harassment who narrate their experiences on digital platforms. It draws from a selection of stories told by women in the #FirstHarassment protest (2015) in which they recount, in a tone of denunciation, these first experiences. Inspired by critical discourse analysis and culturally oriented narrative analysis, in dialogue with feminist theorizing, the study distinguishes a plot that involves dominant narratives about women's bodies, roles, rights, and duties; women's counter-narratives that contest dominant narratives; and the narratives constructed by women researchers about the stories told. It discusses how the participants' testimonies undertake efforts to denaturalize sexual harassment and deconstruct the logic of female culpability for sexual violence suffered. The stories create alliances and convey new narratives for gender relations and women's rights advocacy. The article also discusses how the academic-scientific narration that addresses these stories constitutes an ethical-political positioning. The authors conclude that their writing is a political act aimed at social transformation and against the subaltern condition of women. The researchers work to strengthen the voices of women who report sexual violence, operating in alliance with them, while also contesting patriarchally-based hegemonic narratives.

The World Is Not Mine - Barriers to Healthcare Access for Bangladeshi Rural Elderly Women.

Social determinants of health is a core cross-cutting approach of the World Health Organization to reduce health inequalities, and places an emphasis on aged care planning in rural areas of low- and lower-middle income countries including Bangladesh. The complex correlated health and social factors in Bangladesh interplay to shape the healthcare access of rural people. This impact is significant for rural elderly women in particular who have been shown to access healthcare in ways that are described as 'socially determined'. This study aimed to explore how this cohort related their healthcare access to their living circumstances and provided insight into how their healthcare access needs can be addressed. This study was a critical social theoretical exploration from conversational interviews held over three months with 25 elderly women in rural Bangladesh. Two critical social constructs, 'emancipation' of Habermas and 'recognition' of Honneth, were used in the exploration and explanation of the influence of personal circumstances, society and system on rural elderly women's healthcare access. The concept of 'social determinants of healthcare access' is defined from the physical, emotive, symbolic and imaginative experiences of these women. Interviewing the women provided information for exploration of the determinants that characterized their experiences into an overall construct of 'The World is Not Mine'. This construct represented four themes focusing on the exclusion from healthcare, oppressive socioeconomic condition, marginalization in social relationships and personal characteristics that led the women to avoid or delay access to modern healthcare. This study confirms that the rural elderly women require adequate policy responses from the government, and also need multiple support systems to secure adequate access to healthcare. As healthcare services are often a reflection of community values and human rights concerns for the elderly, there is a need of recognition and respect of their voice by the family members, society and the healthcare system in planning and implementation of a prudent aged care policy for rural elderly women in Bangladesh.