VULNERABILITY AND VULNERATION OF CHILDREN IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: MEDIA ANALYSIS

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes occurred in several fields, making it important to know the contexts of social and psychic risk that mark conditions of vulnerability and vulnerability, experienced by children and babies, despite children: refugees, residents in favelas and children’s victims of domestic violence. Objective: To know possible risks to the mental health of children, in a situation of vulnerability, in the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the Brazilian reality. Method: Media study, with a view to analyzing the sociopolitical context, favoring a critical view of different world readings, fundamental for understanding the intended object. Result: From the collected data, specific categories were structured for each group studied, namely: 1) refugee children: precariousness of the shelter; legal dimension; losses and mourning; and xenophobia. 2) children living in peripheral areas: losses and bereavements; child violence; access to health; and hunger. 3) domestic violence: rights of children in situations of violence; domestic violence in the pandemic and extra-domiciliary means that support the child. The results obtained in each of the specific objectives, denounce specificities of each of the groups: refugee children, in addition to losing rights, experience the loss of their origin, making it difficult to address their suffering to an  “other”. Children residing in peripheries, in addition to being affected by the pandemic, suffered the effects of necropolitics, arising from the colonial heritage. Children victims of intrafamily violence faced injuries resulting from social isolation and mental illness of caregivers. Finally, it is considered that without the necessary denouncement, the risks of forgetting such a serious problem can become effective and the resources necessary for care do not become urgent. Media analysis favored dealing with a gap in the scientific field, enabling the creation of reflections on the vulnerable condition of invisible populations.