Cristiane S. Cabral

Teenage pregnancy and moral panic in Brazil

This paper examines teenage pregnancy as a social‐historical construction of increasing concern in Brazil. It presents findings from over five years of empirical research alongside an analysis of a sample of newspaper articles representative of the dominant positions in the Brazilian press concerning teenage pregnancy. In contrast to mainstream arguments and to broader moral panic surrounding teenage pregnancy, we argue that contemporary patterns of sexual behaviour among young people in Brazil do not signal growing permissiveness and are not straightforwardly related to poverty, family dysfunction or lack of life projects on the part of young people themselves. On the contrary, early pregnancy and parenthood retain strong continuities with core Brazilian values and norms of sexual culture.

Magnitude and characterization of sexual coercion experienced by young adults in three Brazilian state capitals: Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador

The article estimates the magnitude of sexual coercion among young adults in three large Brazilian cities. In addition to evaluating prevalence, the article analyzes the victims and perpetrators characteristics, identifies the main strategies used in coercion, and explores the social scenarios that favor the occurrence of sexual violence. The article draws on data from a household survey called the GRAVAD Project, conducted in Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador and completed in 2002. Interviews were applied to a stratified sample of males and females aged 18-24 years, with 4,634 respondents (47.2% males and 52.8% females). Prevalence of some lifetime experience as victims of sexual coercion was estimated at 16.5% for women and 11.1% for men. Victims and perpetrators age in the first episode, the type of relationship between them, and the forms of pressure varied between males and females. The magnitude of such events, differences between men and women, and the higher prevalence rates in certain population sub-groups demand immediate preventive policies and strategies.

Contraception and family planning services as viewed by users of three clinics in the Unified National Health System, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

This article presents partial data from a larger qualitative, socio-anthropological survey in five States of Brazil, aimed at grasping the perspectives of users in urban and rural areas on their contraceptive and reproductive experiences, and their perceptions concerning contraceptive and family planning care in the Unified National Health System. The article focuses on findings in the State of Rio de Janeiro from 60 individual semi-structured interviews with users 18 to 49 years of age in two primary care clinics in the State capital and one rural clinic under the Family Health Program (FHP). There was a greater diversity in the use of methods in the capital as compared to the interior, where tubal ligation was the only alternative to the pill. Group education work in the capital expands the possibilities for choice of methods and collective learning, although access to the IUD and tubal ligation is still considered problematic, due to difficulties in providing such care. The health services prioritize care for women that have already begun childbearing, and more care is needed for non-pregnant adult women and adolescents, in addition to strengthening the educational work in the FHP.

Entre negociação e conflito: gênero e coerção sexual em três capitais brasileiras

This article discusses sexual coercion based on a population survey data, collected between 2001 and 2002, in three Brazilian capitals (Rio de Janeiro, Salvador e Porto Alegre)--Gravad Research. The results presented refer to questions about aspects of sexual negotiation, taken as possible experiences to be identified as sexual coercion, as well as youth values and opinions concerned to sexuality. The interviews were applied to males and females aged 18-24. Analysis of the empirical data points to the importance of specific scripts and to local dynamics and beliefs in the sexual interaction between genders in terms of identifying some behaviors as ways of forced sex. We aim to relativize the notion of violence that is much present in great part of the international literature about this theme.

Gravidez imprevista e aborto no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: gênero e geração nos processos decisórios

Gravidez imprevista e aborto no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: genero e geracao nos processos decisorios Resumo: O artigo apresenta resultados da pesquisa HEXCA – Brasil, que investigou, por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, a interrupcao da gravidez nas trajetorias biograficas de 31 mulheres e 28 homens de classes populares e medias e diferentes faixas etarias (18 a 27 e 40 a 49 anos). Abordam-se os processos de negociacao e tomada de decisao acerca do aborto. Tais processos revelam-se portadores de temporalidades distintas, nao lineares, e condicionados por circunstâncias sociais variadas. A analise dos processos de decisao seguiu o exame das relacoes de genero narradas pelos informantes, bem como a condicao da etapa de vida em que o evento da interrupcao da gravidez teve lugar. O contraste geracional permitiu observar, nos estratos sociais pesquisados, mudancas significativas nas relacoes de genero e familiares, nas representacoes acerca da maternidade, paternidade e reproducao, e nos metodos e no acesso ao abortamento nas ultimas decadas. A perspectiva biografica adotada mostrou-se fecunda ao vincular o evento analisado ao curso das experiencias sexuais, contraceptivas e reprodutivas dos entrevistados. Palavras-‐chave: aborto ilegal; gravidez nao planejada; genero; saude reprodutiva; direitos reprodutivos Embarazo no previsto y aborto en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: genero y generacion en los procesos de decision Resumen: el articulo presenta resultados de la investigacion HEXCA-Brasil que, por medio de entrevistas en profundidad, indago la interrupcion del embarazo en trayectorias biograficas de 31 mujeres y 28 hombres de camadas populares y medias, en diferentes franjas etarias (18 a 17 anos y 40 a 49 anos). Se abordan los procesos de negociacion y toma de decision acerca del aborto. Dichos procesos, condicionados por circunstancias sociales variadas, se han revalado portadores de temporalidades diversas, no lineales. Ademas del analisis de tales procesos de decision se examinan las relaciones de genero narradas por los informantes, asi como las condiciones de la etapa vital en que tuvo lugar el evento de interrupcion del embarazo. El contraste gene- racional ha permitido observar, en los estratos sociales indagados, cambios significativos en las relaciones familiares y de genero; en las representaciones acerca de la maternidad, la paternidad y la reproduccion; asi como en los metodos abortivos y su accesibilidad en las ultimas decadas. La perspectiva biografica adoptada se mostro fecundidad al vincular del evento analizado con el trayecto de las experiencias sexuales, contraceptivas y reproductivas de los entrevistados. Palabras clave: aborto ilegal; embarazo no planificado; genero; salud reproductiva; derechos reproductivos; Rio de Janeiro Unexpected pregnancy and abortion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: gender and generation in decision-‐making processes Abstract: This article presents results of the Brazilian chapter of the HEXCA research project, on Heterosexualities, Contraception and Abortion in four South American cities. The experience of abortion was investigated in the biographical trajectories of 31 women and 28 men of low and middle-income backgrounds, ages 18 to 27 and 40 to 49 years, with focus on the negotiation and decision-making process involving the interruption of a pregnancy. These processes are not straightforward, but have a complex timeline and are conditioned by a variety of social circumstances. The context of gender relations and the life stage at which abortion takes place are analyzed. Comparing the experience of different generations, changes in gender and family relations are highlighted, as well as representations of parenthood and reproduction, and the different methods and degrees of access to abortion procedures. The biographical perspective was revealed advantageous in linking sexual and reproductive experiences. Keywords: abortion; Rio de Janeiro; Brazil; contraception; reproductive trajectories

Sexual practices in youth: analysis of lifetime sexual trajectory and last sexual intercourse

This article examines the sexual practices of young Brazilians based on data from the GRAVAD Research Project, a household survey targeting males and females from 18 to 24 years of age (n = 4,634) in three Brazilian State capitals: Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador. The set of practices experienced over the course of their sexual careers is characterized by traits of social belonging, elements from individual life histories, and prescribed rules of conduct for men and women. The authors compared the young peoples range of lifetime practices and those from last sexual relations in order to discuss the spread and incorporation of practices into life histories. The data point to the hegemony of vaginal sex in both the lifetime repertoire of sexual practices and the last sexual encounters, such that vaginal sex provides the prime definition of heterosexuality.

A New Look at Teenage Pregnancy in Brazil

This paper brings a synthesis of some of the main results provided by GRAVAD survey (Teenage pregnancy: multicentric study about youth, sexuality and reproduction in Brazil). GRAVAD is a study about sexual and reproductive behavior among Brazilian youth that interviewed 4,634 individuals in a population survey with a random sample. Women and men between 18 and 24 years old were interviewed in three capitals—Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. “Teen pregnancy” is not the consequence of promiscuous sexual activities, as popular beliefs currently state. It is often ignored that amidst the poorer social segments parenthood is seen as a sign of social status, given the lack of professional perspectives. Among the middle class, other sociocultural horizons give parenthood the status of an experience to be lived in later moments of live, when ones professional and financial lives have been consolidated.

Youth, gender and sexual practices in Brazil

Based on a survey developed in three Brazilian state capitals, this paper presents data and interpretations about the sexual practices and management of sexual desire among male and female youth. The findings indicate a close connection between gender and sexuality in modeling individuals’ sexual trajectories and subjectivities. There is a higher acceptance of practices formerly considered to be deviant, revealing that sexual morality among youth has acquired a more modern configuration. This paper argues that there is a differentiated modernization of sexual values: gender disparities were detected in the answers of respondents in all social environments. The increasing flexibility of individual trajectories does not necessarily lead to gender equality. The affirmation that the individualizing process coexists with the persistence of traditional gender ideology entails the recognition that men and women’s, and different generations’ and social segments’ modernization paths do not evolve in the same way.

Embarazo no previsto y aborto en Río de Janeiro, Brasil: género y generación en los procesos de decisión

Gravidez imprevista e aborto no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: genero e geracao nos processos decisorios Resumo: O artigo apresenta resultados da pesquisa HEXCA – Brasil, que investigou, por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, a interrupcao da gravidez nas trajetorias biograficas de 31 mulheres e 28 homens de classes populares e medias e diferentes faixas etarias (18 a 27 e 40 a 49 anos). Abordam-se os processos de negociacao e tomada de decisao acerca do aborto. Tais processos revelam-se portadores de temporalidades distintas, nao lineares, e condicionados por circunstâncias sociais variadas. A analise dos processos de decisao seguiu o exame das relacoes de genero narradas pelos informantes, bem como a condicao da etapa de vida em que o evento da interrupcao da gravidez teve lugar. O contraste geracional permitiu observar, nos estratos sociais pesquisados, mudancas significativas nas relacoes de genero e familiares, nas representacoes acerca da maternidade, paternidade e reproducao, e nos metodos e no acesso ao abortamento nas ultimas decadas. A perspectiva biografica adotada mostrou-se fecunda ao vincular o evento analisado ao curso das experiencias sexuais, contraceptivas e reprodutivas dos entrevistados. Palavras-‐chave: aborto ilegal; gravidez nao planejada; genero; saude reprodutiva; direitos reprodutivos Embarazo no previsto y aborto en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: genero y generacion en los procesos de decision Resumen: el articulo presenta resultados de la investigacion HEXCA-Brasil que, por medio de entrevistas en profundidad, indago la interrupcion del embarazo en trayectorias biograficas de 31 mujeres y 28 hombres de camadas populares y medias, en diferentes franjas etarias (18 a 17 anos y 40 a 49 anos). Se abordan los procesos de negociacion y toma de decision acerca del aborto. Dichos procesos, condicionados por circunstancias sociales variadas, se han revalado portadores de temporalidades diversas, no lineales. Ademas del analisis de tales procesos de decision se examinan las relaciones de genero narradas por los informantes, asi como las condiciones de la etapa vital en que tuvo lugar el evento de interrupcion del embarazo. El contraste gene- racional ha permitido observar, en los estratos sociales indagados, cambios significativos en las relaciones familiares y de genero; en las representaciones acerca de la maternidad, la paternidad y la reproduccion; asi como en los metodos abortivos y su accesibilidad en las ultimas decadas. La perspectiva biografica adoptada se mostro fecundidad al vincular del evento analizado con el trayecto de las experiencias sexuales, contraceptivas y reproductivas de los entrevistados. Palabras clave: aborto ilegal; embarazo no planificado; genero; salud reproductiva; derechos reproductivos; Rio de Janeiro Unexpected pregnancy and abortion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: gender and generation in decision-‐making processes Abstract: This article presents results of the Brazilian chapter of the HEXCA research project, on Heterosexualities, Contraception and Abortion in four South American cities. The experience of abortion was investigated in the biographical trajectories of 31 women and 28 men of low and middle-income backgrounds, ages 18 to 27 and 40 to 49 years, with focus on the negotiation and decision-making process involving the interruption of a pregnancy. These processes are not straightforward, but have a complex timeline and are conditioned by a variety of social circumstances. The context of gender relations and the life stage at which abortion takes place are analyzed. Comparing the experience of different generations, changes in gender and family relations are highlighted, as well as representations of parenthood and reproduction, and the different methods and degrees of access to abortion procedures. The biographical perspective was revealed advantageous in linking sexual and reproductive experiences. Keywords: abortion; Rio de Janeiro; Brazil; contraception; reproductive trajectories

Unexpected pregnancy and abortion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: gender and generation in decision-making processes

Gravidez imprevista e aborto no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: genero e geracao nos processos decisorios Resumo: O artigo apresenta resultados da pesquisa HEXCA – Brasil, que investigou, por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, a interrupcao da gravidez nas trajetorias biograficas de 31 mulheres e 28 homens de classes populares e medias e diferentes faixas etarias (18 a 27 e 40 a 49 anos). Abordam-se os processos de negociacao e tomada de decisao acerca do aborto. Tais processos revelam-se portadores de temporalidades distintas, nao lineares, e condicionados por circunstâncias sociais variadas. A analise dos processos de decisao seguiu o exame das relacoes de genero narradas pelos informantes, bem como a condicao da etapa de vida em que o evento da interrupcao da gravidez teve lugar. O contraste geracional permitiu observar, nos estratos sociais pesquisados, mudancas significativas nas relacoes de genero e familiares, nas representacoes acerca da maternidade, paternidade e reproducao, e nos metodos e no acesso ao abortamento nas ultimas decadas. A perspectiva biografica adotada mostrou-se fecunda ao vincular o evento analisado ao curso das experiencias sexuais, contraceptivas e reprodutivas dos entrevistados. Palavras-‐chave: aborto ilegal; gravidez nao planejada; genero; saude reprodutiva; direitos reprodutivos Embarazo no previsto y aborto en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: genero y generacion en los procesos de decision Resumen: el articulo presenta resultados de la investigacion HEXCA-Brasil que, por medio de entrevistas en profundidad, indago la interrupcion del embarazo en trayectorias biograficas de 31 mujeres y 28 hombres de camadas populares y medias, en diferentes franjas etarias (18 a 17 anos y 40 a 49 anos). Se abordan los procesos de negociacion y toma de decision acerca del aborto. Dichos procesos, condicionados por circunstancias sociales variadas, se han revalado portadores de temporalidades diversas, no lineales. Ademas del analisis de tales procesos de decision se examinan las relaciones de genero narradas por los informantes, asi como las condiciones de la etapa vital en que tuvo lugar el evento de interrupcion del embarazo. El contraste gene- racional ha permitido observar, en los estratos sociales indagados, cambios significativos en las relaciones familiares y de genero; en las representaciones acerca de la maternidad, la paternidad y la reproduccion; asi como en los metodos abortivos y su accesibilidad en las ultimas decadas. La perspectiva biografica adoptada se mostro fecundidad al vincular del evento analizado con el trayecto de las experiencias sexuales, contraceptivas y reproductivas de los entrevistados. Palabras clave: aborto ilegal; embarazo no planificado; genero; salud reproductiva; derechos reproductivos; Rio de Janeiro Unexpected pregnancy and abortion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: gender and generation in decision-‐making processes Abstract: This article presents results of the Brazilian chapter of the HEXCA research project, on Heterosexualities, Contraception and Abortion in four South American cities. The experience of abortion was investigated in the biographical trajectories of 31 women and 28 men of low and middle-income backgrounds, ages 18 to 27 and 40 to 49 years, with focus on the negotiation and decision-making process involving the interruption of a pregnancy. These processes are not straightforward, but have a complex timeline and are conditioned by a variety of social circumstances. The context of gender relations and the life stage at which abortion takes place are analyzed. Comparing the experience of different generations, changes in gender and family relations are highlighted, as well as representations of parenthood and reproduction, and the different methods and degrees of access to abortion procedures. The biographical perspective was revealed advantageous in linking sexual and reproductive experiences. Keywords: abortion; Rio de Janeiro; Brazil; contraception; reproductive trajectories