Coping with Violence in gender relations

the contribution of therapeutic massage - an experience in the popular environment

Abstract

This work aims to report the effect of the introduction of an alternative therapeutic practice, reflexotherapy (therapeutic massage of the feet), in a group of women from the popular environment of a peripheral community in the city of Salvador, Bahia. The effects produced by the use of this therapeutic practice on women's lives are analyzed, specifically in relation to the experiences of domestic violence. The expansion of knowledge about the body strengthens self-esteem, awakens to the need to break with traditional values ​​of submission and favors more affirmative attitudes and reactions in the affective and social relationships of women who practice and benefit from massages. It results in an empowerment process that leads to the search for citizenship rights in public and political spaces.