Navigating intersectional stigma: an analysis of the experiences of women experiencing homelessness in central São Paulo

• Grant number: 25/01927-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda Baeza Scagliusi
• Grantee: Thifany Helena Torres
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Homelessness reveals nuances of structural poverty, such as marginalization, and although the homeless population is a heterogeneous group, it is stigmatized. Aspects of the corporality, such as the bad smell, the dirt, and lack of teeth, mark the street experience through the sociocultural construction of a non-ideal body. It is possible to assume that women experiencing homelessness are crossed by more intersectional axes of stigma, as the street is socially masculinized and racialized. Additionally, these stigmas, often marked by the corporalities of women experiencing homelessness, can have a dimension of potential fluidity, which allows them to navigate these stigmas in the process of constructing their identities and their ways os living or being on the streets. The objective is to investigate how cisgender, transgender, and travestite women experiencing homelessness in central São Paulo experience the stigma related to their corporalities and how they navigate it in a intersectional manner, as well as how these aspects influence their identities. The study will follow a qualitative design, employing semi-structured interviews, and using intersectionality as both its theoretical and methodological framework. The research will be conducted in institutions focused on the homeless population located in downtown São Paulo and in public spaces around these locations. The study intends to interview twenty homeless women (ten cisgender, ten transgender or travestite), and ten professionals from the services to investigate their perceptions of these women's bodies, focusing on stigmatizing preconceptions. The transcriptions will be analyzed through thematic analysis with an intersectional sensitivity and contextualized with field notes. Ethical aspects for conducting the study will be based on authors who work with socially vulnerable groups. (AU)