The BRAVE-WOW project recently held its first national focus group in Portugal, bringing together 13 participants to support the development of the Gender-Based Violence at Work Questionnaire, a core research tool for the project.
The session took place on January 9th and provided practical insights into how gender-based violence and harassment are experienced in healthcare work environments, anchoring the research process in real organisational contexts.
This focus group was notable for the diverse and complementary profiles of its participants, which included health professionals, specialists, researchers, trade union representatives, and officials from Portuguese public bodies responsible for working conditions, employment regulation, public administration, and gender equality. This diversity fostered a comprehensive and informed discussion that incorporated institutional, professional, and policy-level perspectives.
Violence and working conditions
Discussions highlighted the prevalence of psychological violence in healthcare workplaces and emphasised the impact of structural working conditions—such as high workloads and precarious employment—in normalising gender-based violence as a systemic organisational issue.
The focus group was organised by the Portuguese partners of the BRAVE-WOW consortium, specifically the University of Coimbra (UC), the University of Évora (UE), SHINE 2Europe, and CITE – Comissão para a Igualdade no Trabalho e no Emprego.
Participating specialists and organisations will be invited to engage in future project activities, contributing to the co-creation of tools and interventions that align with the actual working conditions in Portugal, particularly within the healthcare sector.