Mediation of Information on Eliminating Violence Against Women

Introduction

On the basis of mediation of information, this research presents a discussion on elimination of gender-based violence against women. This study is structured as follows: the context of the action research and all stakeholders – mediators – involved in this activity; presentation and discussion of legislation on gender-based violence against women; reflections generated by the ecology of knowledges of these stakeholder groups in order to propose challenges and disruptions as a means of dealing with the complexity and interrelationship of various bodies and institutions involved in elimination of gender-based violence against women, in Bauru city, in the interior of São Paulo State.

Starting from an action research carried out with subjects involved in eliminating violence against women, it has been possible to develop an intervention known as Workshop. The intention of this intervention is offer space for reflection and help raise further awareness on problems linked to gender-based violence by providing exchanges of experience and knowledge-sharing presented by mediators themselves as mediators, in a process of intersection and search for more symmetric and dialogical relations. The dynamic of this action research with bodies and institutions involved in elimination of gender-based violence considered mediation of information as the object of this research, particularly with respect to practices that favor exchanges of knowledge and experience, allowing an increase in critical awareness on reality. Consideration is also given to the possibility of creating plural actions and positions in order to promote different actions, breaking everyday valid rules, often adopting a oppressive attitude towards effectiveness on elimination of gender-based violence system provided by the State.

Mediation of Information involves a reflexive dimensions, a relation among elements. Mediating also means to facilitate, interfere, intercede, intervene, negotiate and follow up, represent and reconcile in order to improve relations, as well as enable actions of resistance, dissemination of information and promote the coexistence between different viewpoints in opposite situations. Bonds of sociability are established or re-established during the process of dialogue and interaction among the members of a community. Therefore, possibilities for interference on issues directed to a particular group.

In the field of Information Science, Almeida Junior (2009) introduces the idea of mediation as a dynamic process, whose interactions take place among professionals, users and information material/media. It is important to point out that the relation among these three elements is not fixed, it provides an intensive flow, it is not a one-way relation, providing a basis for an understanding on object/phenomenon of study. Gomes (2010) understands mediation as a component of knowledge construction, which is applied both in Information Science theory and in other professional contexts in the field. According to the author, mediation is beyond the traditional professional activity, this process happens even before information is sought, since information is present in the daily life. For example, how we deal with culture and society we take part. From this view, considering an informational environment, mediation is interdisciplinary in nature, that is, different perspectives such as informational, cultural, educational and pedagogical are taken into account, allowing a wide vision of the concept, thus helping to achieve paradigmatic advances in the field.

According to Martín-Barbero (1997), mediation refers to spaces and forms of communication between content and receiver. The author redirects the discussion of the concept in order to apply it in relations, that is, the concept is not only an element of technical measures. This fact corroborates the idea that communicative and informational phenomena should not be considered in technical measures but in relations, as presented in one of his best known work titled “From media to mediations”.