CHALLENGES IN SOCIAL SERVICE IN SEARCH OF WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS

Abstract

Women's human rights represent a historic achievement built through collective struggles, resistance and normative advances over the centuries. However, the implementation of these rights encounters significant obstacles, ranging from sociocultural and institutional barriers to the precariousness of protection mechanisms and public policies aimed at this population. In this scenario, Social Work emerges as a fundamental field of activity, promoting the defense and guarantee of women's rights in various spheres of society.

The digital book "Challenges of Social Work in Guaranteeing Women's Human Rights" has as its main objective to analyze the challenges faced by social workers in the implementation of these rights, contextualizing women's achievements historically and the political and structural obstacles that still persist. The work focuses on the complexity of professional practice in the face of gender inequalities, institutional violence and the limitations imposed by a system still marked by structural inequalities.

The first part of the book is dedicated to a critical review of the influence and limits of the Enlightenment on the modern understanding of human rights, exploring how this philosophical current shaped the Western conception of rights, while neglecting the specificities of the female experience. This analysis seeks to understand the bases of the historical exclusion of women in discourses on universal rights and the repercussions of this marginalization in the present.

The work then delves into an in-depth analysis of the role of Social Services in promoting gender equality, highlighting its importance as a mediator between subjects and the State. Throughout the chapters, the main public policies aimed at women are explored, the difficulties in their implementation and the challenges that social workers face in guaranteeing access to fundamental rights, such as security, health, education and decent work.

In addition, the book discusses the paradoxes faced in the contemporary context, in which legislative advances coexist with social and political setbacks. The growing threat to rights that have been achieved, the impact of new family configurations, the intersections between race, class and gender, as well as the need for Social Services committed to the feminist struggle and human rights are issues addressed in a critical and reflective manner.

Finally, the work proposes paths and strategies to strengthen the work of Social Services professionals in the defense of women's human rights, emphasizing the need for an intersectional perspective and an ethical and engaged practice. The appreciation of academic knowledge combined with practical experience is essential for Social Services to continue being an instrument of social transformation and resistance in the face of inequalities.

This book is, therefore, essential reading for social workers, researchers, students and all those interested in building a more just and egalitarian society. May this work contribute to reflection and mobilization around the realization of women's rights and the strengthening of the profession in the fight against gender inequalities.

The authors,

Jean Michel Dutra da Fonseca Flôres

André Michels Branco