Risk perception of female residents in areas subject to landslides

Abstract

Exposure to natural hazards can have an impact on health. The precariousness of housing, living conditions and the lack of social protection, make surviving in risk areas a public health issue. This research sought to understand the place that natural hazards occupy in the lives of female residents of two neighborhoods mapped as areas of very high risk for landslides in São José dos Campos (state of São Paulo). Qualitative research was carried out in which the researcher, accompanied by community health agents, interviewed 12 female residents and made field ethnographic observations. The risk perceived by the interviewees, in their sociocultural context, was of being removed from their homes by the government. In conclusion, sociocultural studies at the interface between collective health and the environment are essential to reduce the exposure of some social groups to natural hazards and to create public policies that seek to reduce inequities.