“I Really Dreamed of True Love”: An Ethnography on Gender‐Based Violence and Its Effects on the Healthcare of Women Experiencing Homelessness
Julia Marino Sanches, Vitor Rafael Gomes, Bárbara Martins, Disete Devera, Luciane Miranda Guerra, Luiz Francesquini JúniorABSTRACT
Objective
To understand how affective bonds and experiences of gender‐based violence intersect the trajectories of women experiencing homelessness and influence their relationship with the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS).
Methods
A qualitative study with an ethnographic approach, conducted between August and December 2025 in Campinas, Brazil, alongside “Street Clinic” (Consultório na Rua) teams. Participants were 11 adult women experiencing homelessness. Data were produced through participant observation, semi‐structured interviews, and field diaries, and subjected to Thematic Content Analysis.
Results
The study identified the centrality of intimate partner and institutional violence in the participants’ trajectories and their impacts on care. It highlighted the ambivalence of heterosexual affective‐romantic bonds, which operate paradoxically as sources of protection, belonging, and emotional support, but also as spaces for reproducing inequalities, restricting autonomy, and creating barriers to healthcare access and continuity.
Conclusions
Romantic bonds occupy a central position in these women’s daily lives, placing them between protection and vulnerability. Care experiences are intersected by multiple social markers, reinforcing the need for public policies guided by intersectional, gender‐sensitive perspectives capable of recognizing the complexity of care itineraries for this population.