Citation

Hautzinger S. Fem. Issues 1997; 15(1-2): 3-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Transaction Periodicals Consortium)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12321266

Abstract

This document reports on a 1990 case study of one of Brazil's 80 police stations established for the protection of women in response to feminist pressure to address excessively high levels of violence against women. These police stations, staffed by women to respond exclusively to complaints lodged by women, are an unusual institutional response to such violence. The study examines the station established in Salvador in 1986 to reveal which interests were served by the creation of the specialized stations. The first section of the article addresses the fact that Salvador's policewomen have gained little from the creation of the specialized stations and continue to suffer job-related sexual discrimination. Next, conceptions of gender identity among policewomen are analyzed, and the ideologies of "femininity" and "feminism" in the Brazilian context are discussed. The final section compares views on the abuse of women with views on police brutality and relays incidences when the policewomen beat male prisoners. It is argued that certain forms of violence are actually considered necessary to maintain social order and enact justice. It is concluded that all of the involved parties, the state, the feminists, the female citizenry, and Salvador's female police, benefit in part from the existence of the specialized police stations but that there are serious problems also, especially the fact that the policewomen involved are given little or no special training and no career incentives.

Language: en