The research aimed to analyze how academic studies address the issue of domestic violence
against women living on the banks of waterways, referred to here as "ribeirinha women." In
this way, it critically discussed the evolution of public policies aimed at combating this
violence, considering how it became a public issue, especially through the struggle of feminist
organizations, and how the state has been implementing them. The historical milestone that
delimits the research is the "Maria da Penha Law" (Law No. 11.340) of 2006. The
methodology has a bibliographic research character, utilizing the Brazilian Digital Library of
Theses and Dissertations portal. Consequently, to organize the research, a list of descriptors
was created to categorize and obtain necessary data. From the data entered in the spreadsheet,
the main criterion for filtering was whether the work applied to the social theoretical debate regarding women (as many works mention women—specifying ribeirinha women, even—yet
under a biological perspective, primarily addressing issues related to health). As a result, it
was noted that the majority of theses and dissertations mentioning ribeirinha women were
written by other women; however, there is a significant lack of focus on gender issues in
many of the texts. In general, these works do not discuss ribeirinha women and their
intersections of gender identity, territory, race and/or ethnicity, sexuality, and class. Much of
the research limits these women to their work and what they produce. When they do not do
so, they reduce them to their reproductive roles, i.e., their status as mothers. Both limitations
are facets of the capitalist system and, therefore, of colonialism, which the sociocultural
population to which these women belong is still strongly affected by, according to Brazil's
historical context. Thus, it was concluded that there is a lack of specific studies focused on
these women (ribeirinhas) and their vulnerabilities to violence, confirming that academia
persists in a colonial logic of epistemicide, rendering them invisible and contributing to a
culture of systematic and colonial oppression.
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