MASCULINE INFIDELITY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: EXPERIENCE OF A GROUP OF WOMEN

Abstract

This article’s objective is to present the experience of women in their daily relationship with their partners, in a qualitative study. There were 14 women participating age between 20 to 24 years old, they all lived in the outskirts of Maceio, capital of Alagoas state. Data collection was done through interviews, using gender as the theoretical reference and oral history as the thematic methodologic procedure. The pregnancy occurred during adolescence and it was provided a consensual union, when it did not exist before, except for one of the participants. But in this kind of union, some men acted more freely, having extramarital relations and many times attacking their wives at home. Most women live with the problem of male infidelity and domestic violence, that increases with poverty. As we read their histories, we notice that they consider wrong their partner attitude of betraying and harming, but most of them have passive reactions when they know about, or when they complaint, it generates fights between the couple, but it does not modify men’s behavior and it doesn’t grant women’s physical and psychological integrity. This situation shows the male domination exerted in gender relations, it characterizes the gender asymmetries that permeate the couple relations, and gives visibility to the submission position to which
these women are exposed, in this study.