The waters where women fish: an analysis of the invisibilities and inequalities in fishing activity in the oil-producing municipalities of the Campos Basin

Abstract

Starting from the expanded concept of artisanal fishing, which includes all the activities necessary for the capture of fish, for the collection and/or cultivation of seaweed and seafood, and for the commercialization of all fish, the presence of women in artisanal fishing, in Campos Basin, is undoubted. However, in this segment of the labor market, there is a strong sexual and social division of labor, although women exercise fundamental activities at all stages of the production chain, women's work is marked by great invisibility and devaluation by the category, the market and the State. This work seeks to understand the specificities of women's invisibility in fishing, in the context of oil-producing municipalities in the Campos Basin and, for that purpose, analyzes the differences between men and women in artisanal fishing, in three dimensions - labor market, home life, and political participation - based on data from the Pescarte Census. The results show that there is great gender inequality within the artisanal fisheries labor market in the Campos Basin and point out the need to implement gender policies that can change the power structures and gender relations that take place within communities and the fishing labor market, to give the women in fishing greater visibility and prominence.