Possibilities of a cross-sector assistance network for women subjected to violence

Abstract

This article discusses data obtained from semi-structured interviews with 29 key informants from a set of services that provide assistance to women who are victims of domestic violence. It was investigated how these professionals perceive their work, what is the degree of interaction between them, and whether this does or does not characterize these services as a network, with a view to future integration with the primary healthcare services network. The authors conclude that diverse and conflicting operational rationalities coexist in this set but in such a way as to make it difficult to achieve actual integration. The inexistence of a common project reflects how difficult it is to articulate knowledge and care projects that have very different rationales, share no common interfaces and do not value each other. As it involves several sectors of assistance to the population of Brazil, integration depends on building communication channels and technological ways of providing assistance capable of enabling the adjustment of definitions and projects in order to meet shared objectives.