This paper analyzes a storytelling workshop, an intervention based on the referential elements of oral narratives, held at an NGO in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The workshop was divided into three different stages: narration of a story with a focus on gender violence, a discussion based on the narrative, and an activity with body painting. The theoretical framework was based on discursive practices, and when workshop participants' discourse was assessed, at least two interpretive repertories were identified: one based on the gender category and the other on everyday life and recollections from participants' life stories. There was also considerable variety in the arguments, manifested in the contradictions and incongruence permeating the discourse. Narratives used as tools to work with abused women (especially for public health interventions) have received little attention thus far. In the current study, stories were analyzed as possible strategies to deal with gender inequalities, a powerful analytical tool for evaluating public health actions.
Discursive Practices; Narratives; Gender