Abstract
Violence against women is one of the manifestations of gender violence and it is still very present in the Brazilian society. It affects the mental and physical health of the victims and it is recognized as a public health issue. There is a gap in the subject related to mental health, thus, the present study aims to understand the perceptions and practices of professionals from a Psychosocial Care Center (Centro de Atenção Psicossocial, CAPS) regarding the violence against women, through semi-structured interviews with specialists from different areas (n = 10). The narratives were classified into four thematic axes: the perceptions about the subject; the relation between violence against women and mental health; the professional interventions; and, finally, the public policies and current challenges. It was concluded that there is a gap between the perceptions and the actions carried out by healthcare specialists. Moreover, there are still many challenges regarding the treatment of this issue, as the lack of social policies and training of these professionals.
Keywords:
violence against women; mental health; professionals