From Punishment to Education: Discussing the Potential of Basic Education
This dissertation aims to discuss the potential of Basic Education in combating sexual violence against women in Brazil, as well as all forms of gender violence. A critical perspective is adopted towards the criminalization of conduct and the intensification of penalties, which have been in effect as the main strategy for confronting gender violence in Brazil over the last 40 years. From the understanding that gender violence emanates from a sociocultural configuration based on the patriarchal order and the asymmetry of power between genders (SAFFIOTI, 1995; 2001), and that the penal system is ontologically selective, both in relation to the criminal and with the victim, and does not address the roots of this violence (ANDRADE, 2005), it is understood that the criminal route does not present itself as the most appropriate way of coping. Thus, it is necessary to seek strategies that actually deal with the core of gender violence, especially sexual violence against women.
In view of this scenario, this research argues, based on Theodor Adorno's reflections, that Basic Education presents itself as a potential space to properly deal with gender violence, seeking to deconstruct the foundations on which it is based. Although the school space can act as a mechanism for reproducing and maintaining the status quo (BOURDIEU, 1992), it is understood that there is a space for resistance and opposition (APPLE, 1979). Based on the understanding that the heart of any educational enterprise is the curriculum, an analysis of the text of the National Curricular Common Base (BNCC) referring to the discipline of History for High School Years - Finals was carried out, where the muteness of the document that it guides the construction of the Brazilian curriculum with regard to the reflection and discussion of gender structures.