Desafios da participação das mulheres no Conselho Estadual de Saúde de Alagoas

Abstract

The present research aims to analyze from a gender perspective the differentials and challenges built in the experiences of women participation in the power spaces of the State Health Council of Alagoas, taking into account the strength correlations. In coherence with the object of this study centered on the gender relations present in the context of the aforementioned council, the theoretical assumptions of the dialectical materialism were adopted to understand the question of the social of the women in the spaces of social control, unveiling the particular relationship of the council coma singularity and the universality that configures it. The empirical field encompasses the Health Council of the State of Alagoas, in the current management (2017-2019), with a population of 40 counselors (incumbents and alternates), 19 (45%) women and 21 (55%) men. Different sources of information were consulted: bibliographical sources supported by literature review and authors' contributions on the topics covered (research, books and articles in periodicals). Documentary sources include: council documents, minutes of meetings, management report, National Health Policy and social control laws. It was considered that the prioritized qualitative research modality may dispense with systematic sampling processes. The oral sources constitute (07) seven semi-structured interviews with the counselors. The testimonies reveal fragility among counselors about the importance of the gender approach and diversity in Public Health Policy. Particularly the concealment of the voice of women in the public sphere, in an important space for debate and deliberation, such as the State Health Council , weakens participation / representation, constituting itself in mere figuration and regression of struggles and achievements achieved over time. These aspects question the importance of the insertion of the training in gender as an important theoretical methodological instrument for reading the social reality and for a qualified participation in the public sphere. It is observed the persistence of recognition barriers for the effective participation of women in the State Health Council in Alagoas, with persistent inequalities in the distribution of power between men and women in society.