CONFRONTING GENDER VIOLENCE IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE IN LIGHT OF INTEGRALITY
Public Health; Gender-Based Violence; Integrality in Health.
The perception of violence as a health problem is directly linked to its interference in the individual's quality of life and incorporated social processes. Among the different types and characteristics of violence, gender-based violence stands out, one of the biggest health problems today. Gender-based violence is linked to physical, sexual and psychological abuse, in addition to moral and intellectual oppression, it also includes trafficking in women, ethnic and racial violence and violence committed by the State. Gender issues were gradually and predominantly established so that violence against women found forms that adapted to the characteristics of time and modern society. In this sense, Primary Health Care (PHC) is the privileged locus of care, being an ally in the prevention, combat and monitoring of gender-based violence. The valorization of PHC, part of its connection in the action scenario, enabling greater connection and understanding of subjects and their local relationships, there are at least three strong reasons that qualify PHC as a privileged domain for the route to be taken by women victims of violence in search of help. This study aimed to analyze, based on the speeches of health professionals, actions to combat gender-based violence in PHC in the light of comprehensiveness. This is a descriptive study, with a qualitative approach, methodologically systematized by the Collective Subject Discourse (DSC) and based on the Theory of Social Representations. It was developed in two Basic Health Units (UBS), one in the municipality of Caicó in the state of Rio Grande do Norte and the other in the municipality of Sousa in the state of Paraíba. All health professionals who make up the team working at the UBS involved and who wished to participate after presenting the ECR participated in the study. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview in October 2023, upon release and approval from the Ethics Committee to which the study was submitted. The empirical material was analyzed using the DSC technique. The present study considered the ethical aspects of research involving human beings, therefore, it was submitted to the Research Ethics Committee – CEP of the Faculty of Health Sciences of Trairi – FACISA of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte – UFRN and approved by number 6,303,429. 27 health professionals participated in the research following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Four themes were found that generated the discussion of the study, these being based on the professionals' knowledge of the care network for victims of violence; in preventing cases of gender-based violence in PHC; comprehensive management of gender-based violence; and in the actions of professionals in the face of gender-based violence in PHC. In this way, PHC's actions in the face of gender-based violence can be presented based on the conceptions and reports of working professionals.