"THE GREATER BURDEN MUST FALL ON THE MOTHER": MOTHERHOOD, GENDER VIOLENCE, AND THE REPRODUCTION OF INEQUALITIES IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper critically analyzes gendered discursive productions, with a particular emphasis on maternity and parentality, drawing from the unique experience of the researchers as procedural subjects in a virtual child custody, visitation, and alimony hearing held in a Family Court in Maranhão, Brazil. This specific empirical case serves as a pedagogical lens to unveil the profound power asymmetries embedded within forensic discourses. The research demonstrates how these discourses operate as potent vectors for the reproduction of inequalities and gender-based violence, thereby perpetuating a legal patriarchy that disproportionately impacts the rights of mothers, children, and adolescents. The primary objective is to meticulously examine the representations of fathers and mothers, highlighting how motherhood is socially constructed and reified within the legal-procedural sphere, and to investigate which behaviors of the mother-woman are naturalized or, conversely, questioned, often within a framework of compulsory motherhood. Employing an autoethnographic qualitative methodology, this investigation is theoretically grounded in the seminal contributions of Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Elisabeth Badinter, Vera Iaconelli, Rita Segato, David Hayano, Juciana Sampaio, and Silvio Matheus Alves Santos. This paper articulates its findings with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 (Gender Equality), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), striving to contribute to the construction of a truly anti- discriminatory and egalitarian justice system.