Execução de Alimentos e “Paternidade Voluntária”: impasses judiciais

Abstract

This qualitative research, of an ethnographic nature, aims to understand the experiences lived by women in child support enforcement processes and to comprehend the dynamics of voluntary fatherhood, that is, the parent who does not actively participate in the child's life, whether in the emotional aspect or in the daily exercise of care, limiting themselves to a legal fatherhood, but not a factual one. It seeks to highlight structural failures in the realization of rights, more than offering a statistical analysis of the inefficiency of the judiciary. The study was conducted based on the researcher's insertion as an intern at the Public Defender's Office, using semi-structured interviews to collect detailed accounts from women assisted in child support enforcement processes, ensuring anonymity and confidentiality in accordance with ethical standards. Three cases were chosen and analyzed: one with difficulty locating the parent, another with enforcement that lasted more than fifteen years, and a third with persistent noncompliance. The reports reveal the slowness of the legal process, the ineffectiveness of coercive measures, and the emotional and material burden on mothers, demonstrating that the processes reflect gender inequalities, power relations, and structural limitations of the state in assuring the fundamental right to child support.