Actions addressing violence against women at two primary healthcare centers in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro

The aim here was to investigate and discuss actions for addressing domestic violence within the scope of the Women's Comprehensive Healthcare Program. For this, it was sought to survey and compare professional practices at two health centers in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, of which one was a referral center caring for victims of violence. Eight semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with professionals from the teams of the Women's Comprehensive Healthcare Program. Although both centers often identified users who had been victims of domestic violence, the professionals at the referral center were shown to be better prepared for identifying this problem when it was not explicitly presented, and for developing welcoming practices within their own healthcare unit. What differentiated the two units was how the problem was addressed, which was related to the way in which each service understood violence as a demand inherent to the healthcare sphere.