Intersectional experiences of violence in a vulnerable and peripheral territory

Violence is a socio-cultural phenomenon that violates rights and accentuates social inequalities with noticeable implications in the health and daily life of the population. This article discusses forms of violence produced at the intersection of gender, race and class in a peripheral and highly vulnerable community located in the city of Cubatao, state of Sao Paulo. The research was guided by the theoretical framework of intersectionality and socio-historical psychology. Data were obtained using three surveys conducted from June, 2017 to November, 2020, partially during COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews and field diaries were conducted, analyzed according to Depth Hermeneutics. The material collected from four community leaders served as the basis for this article. The results point to a structural violence articulated to race, class and gender, expressed in the inaccessibility to decent conditions of housing, food and basic income. The violence against women emphasized as a result appears intermediated by the State or the organized drug trafficking. The data suggest that these forms of violence are aggravated by the inefficiency of the public policy operationalization in promoting care for the mostly black and poor population, indicating that intersectionality can be an essential tool for analysis and confrontation of social inequalities.