COVID-19 as a gender market issue: is it a call for action against vulnerability?

Abstract Gender-based domestic violence has increased considerably in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. This alarming situation has affected the market and has inspired individuals and organizations to create initiatives to tackle the issue. This article seeks to understand how the links between market practices prompt discussions on social issues such as women’s vulnerability in the face of domestic violence. The methodological path was built around an initiative by Magazine Luiza (a major Brazilian retailer): the panic button in the Magalu app. A corpus was formed, gathering news about the initiative and analyzed afterward. Although Magalu’s market practices can be seen as influential in the fight against gender violence, there is imminent danger of relegating the defense of women to the market sphere, whereas in contrast, the creation of resilience is, without a doubt, the result of joint action by society as a whole.

摘要：新冠肺炎（COVID-19）大流行期间，巴西的基于性别的家庭暴力数量大幅攀升。这一令人警醒的态势已对市场造成冲击，并促使个人与各类组织发起多项举措以应对该问题。本文旨在探析市场实践之间的内在关联如何推动针对家庭暴力背景下女性弱势处境等社会议题的讨论。本研究的方法论路径围绕巴西大型零售企业Magazine Luiza（马卢扎）的一项举措构建：即其Magalu（马卢扎）应用程序中的紧急报警按钮功能。研究团队构建了相关语料库，收集该举措的相关报道并开展后续分析。尽管马卢扎的市场实践在反对性别暴力的斗争中具备一定影响力，但仍存在将女性权益保障交由市场主导的紧迫风险；与之形成鲜明对比的是，抗逆力的培育无疑是全社会协同行动的成果。