Institutional development and budgetary analysis of policies for women in São Paulo during the Covid-19 pandemic (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Over the last three decades, the municipality of São Paulo has recorded experiences on public policies to benefit women. São Paulo has been the center of important debates on sexual and reproductive rights, education, the fight against gender-based violence, urban planning and job and income generation. The social isolation measures, applied to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, have raised greater problems of domestic violence against women. Between March and April 2020, two months after the pandemic was declared, there was a 22.2% increase in cases of feminicide and a decrease in the number of police reports reporting violence compared to the previous year (2019). These numbers were collected in 12 Brazilian states. In the month of March, the number of murders of women in São Paulo increased by 44.9% compared to the same month, but the year above (WHO, 2020). The research question is: what are the characteristics of policies benefiting women in the city of São Paulo during the pandemic? The objective of the research is to identify the institutional characteristics of policies for women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The object of study is the São Paulo City Hall between the years 2020 and 2022. The nature of this study is descriptive, accompanied by documentary analysis of laws, decrees, financial reports and collection strategies. The center of the research revolves around the public budget, women's policy bodies, government programs and the occupation of management positions. The results show an institutional deficit in policies benefiting women in the city of São Paulo during the pandemic period, compared to previous years. Thus, the conclusion is that there was no institutional improvement in relation to public policies to benefit women in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was an increase in gender-based violence.