Gender-based violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon extensively studied. This article discusses how intersectionality between gender, race and ethnicity emerges in legal discourse about women accessing justice. The theoretical framework was composed by Michel Foucault's power analytics articulated with the concepts of intersectionality, gender, race and ethnicity. The fieldwork was conducted from August 2010 to October 2012 in Porto Alegre's and Seville's judiciary system. Quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used to analyze convenience samples composed by 70 lawsuits, 55 police reports and 290 interviews with women victims. Interviews were also conducted with four judges of Porto Alegre and two judges of Seville. The results indicate an overrepresentation of black women in police reports and interviews but not in law suits. Nevertheless, in judges' answers, gender-race-ethnicity intersectionality is not recognized as an element interfering in the access to justice.
domestic violence; intersectionality; race and ethnicity; Human Rights; public policies
