Pedagogia feminista e letramento em direitos humanos na periferia: possibilidades para o empoderamento de meninas e jovens mulheres com o esporte

Abstract

The thesis investigates the possibilities of empowerment for girls and young women living in peripheral and slum territories, focusing on the "Uma Vitória Leads to Another" Program (UVLO), promoted by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Empodera, in partnership with UN Women and the International Olympic Committee. The paper examines the impact of the UVLO Program on the critical and emancipatory training of participants, through feminist pedagogy and human rights literacy that occurs in an inseparable dialogue with body and sports practices, in order to tackle gender inequalities and promote social justice. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to describe and analyze how UVLO's actions contribute to the development of social and emotional skills that strengthen the autonomy and protagonism of girls and young women, specifically in the slum territory of Cidade de Deus, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Program seeks to reduce harmful gender stereotypes, provide access to knowledge about health, rights and combating violence against women, and strengthen a culture of rights, valuing the voices and experiences of participants and professionals who work in it. The research has a qualitative and interpretative approach, based on the assumptions of Anthropology on Demand and made up of procedures such as participant observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. The interviews and observations, conducted in both virtual and face-toface person context, were transcribed in accordance with current regulations and recorded in a field diary, respectively. Such instruments allowed me to record the interactions established and my perceptions about the Program, with a view to supporting analysis about the influence of UVLO´s actions on the lives of the participants. The methods are inspired by principles from the decolonial, critical and feminist perspective, emphasizing active participation and attentive listening to the voices of the participants themselves in the data collection and analysis process. The results indicate that UVLO has a positive impact on the mobilization of black feminist identities, promoting the strengthening of a feminist support network and the development of leadership skills and e confrontation of gender and racial oppression. The Program managed to create a safe space for listening to and valuing the voices of girls and young women, encouraging critical reflections on their social conditions and therefore nurturing their empowerment processes; it was also able to promote literacy in human rights, by establishing direct and indirect dialogues with sport, as a social right that needs to be guaranteed to girls and young women on equal terms. Furthermore, there was an increase in the perception of belonging and awareness of rights, which was reflected in more assertive attitudes and mobilizations towards greater social and political participation in favor of feminist issues linked mainly to sport. Through the partnership between feminist pedagogy and sports practices, UVLO therefore plays an essential role in empowering girls and young women in peripheral and favela territories. The experience shows that combining sport with human rights education not only increases women's access to sport, but also contributes to the formation of critical, active and participatory citizenship. Thus, the UVLO Program stands out as a model of social intervention that can inspire public policies aimed at empowering women and promoting gender equality, while also prompting important reflections on the role of NGOs and sport in combating structural inequalities, in the face of the not-innocent negligence of the State in regard to its innate responsibilities and also in the specific context of peripheral and slum territories in the city of Rio de Janeiro, whose parallel powers of drug trafficking and militias require even more complex and articulated network action. It should be noted that acknowledging the success of the UVLO Program´s actions and the work of the NGO Empodera does not mean alienation from the movement of transferring responsibility promoted by the social structure that serves a racist, capitalist, neoliberal and of a globalized system.