Repercussions of COVID-19 on the daily lives of women living in a rural settlement

Abstract

Objective: To understand the repercussions of COVID-19 on women’s daily lives in a rural settlement. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in a rural settlement of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in a municipality in Northeastern Brazil between January and March 2021. Forty-eight women participated through semi-structured interviews. The data collected were analyzed by the Collective Subject Discourse method in light of the referential of pandemic processes. Results: The grouping of the speeches unveiled similar and/or complementary meanings about the coping strategies and the feelings generated due to the pandemic. Four Central Ideas were organized: denial to progressive awareness; Perception of the problem, acceptance, and explanation of reality; Negotiation; and Retrospection/reflection. Conclusion: The pandemic repercussions are intrinsically related to an inhospitable reality from the perspective of the experience of women daily forgotten, marginalized, and suppressed.