The challenges of a violence and crime prevention project: The women for peace in Santa Luzia/MG

Abstract

The Women for Peace Project aims to prevent violence through the identification of young people in a social vulnerability situation and drive them for the social protection network. This study examined the implementation of the project in Santa Luzia, Minas Gerais, through interviews with managers and with female participants, questionnaires and documentary research. Many difficulties were identified as the lack of tradition of decentralized management of intersector public policies; the lack of support from managers and understanding of the model by the managers; the inability of the bureaucracy to provide the appropriate resources for the operation of the project and the discontinuity of the financing. However, the model proved to be successful in the identification of risk situations and the empowerment of women in their communities.