Gender analysis in restorative practices in cases of domestic violence

Abstract

The text discusses partial results of a research carried out in the Domestic Violence Court of Novo Hamburgo-RS, with the objective of understanding, from a theoretical gender perspective, how restorative practices are organized around domestic violence conflicts. In 2018, we have participated of three “women strengthening meetings”, one “reflexive group for men”, two “pre women strengthening meetings”, forty-nine welcoming hearings, four interviews, and we analyzed twenty-eight restorative processes and twenty-two judicial processes. We worked with guides, written and audiovisual materials used on the restorative practices, using the content analyses technique. Initially, we present some concerns raised by the literature regarding the use of these practices in cases of domestic violence. Then, we contextualize the flows (legal procedural and eventually restorative) observed, from the notice of the facts to the referral to restorative justice. We conclude that gender theories were not incorporated into the restorative practices analyzed, so that the experiences have the potential to promote a normalizing management of the family, by reinforcing the unequal patterns of the gender order, either by hiding or erasing the structures of gender, either by promoting practices of self-responsibility and forgiveness. The analysis therefore recommends that restorative policies consider the accumulation of gender theories about domestic violence, under penalty of not representing alternatives to punitive practices, but, on the contrary, new violence against women.