On the invisibility of the Sirlei Dias de Carvalho case: an intersectional study of violence against women - DOI: 10.4025/actascihumansoc.v30i2.3196

Abstract

Starting from a real and actual case of violence against women – the beating of a cleaning lady mistaken for a prostitute in Rio de Janeiro – and the understanding of the Brazilian justice system on the case, this article proposes another interpretation, from a feminist perspective, contrary to the invisibility of gender violence and focused on intersectional discrimination. With this objective, we explore the details of the ‘Sirlei case’, her declarations and those of her aggressors during the police investigation, the discussion on violence against women, the debate on female identity and the importance of intersectionality as a analytic tool to avoid the traps of ‘super inclusion’ and ‘sub inclusion’ of the categories of gender, class and race, among many others, which are so important to the Social Sciences.