Prostitution in Brazil is legal, in terms of exchanging sex for money, as there are no laws forbidding adults from being professional sex workers, [1] but it is illegal to operate a brothel or to employ sex workers in any other way. Exploitation of child and teenagers through prostitution in Brazil is widespread and a serious problem. Brazil is considered to have the worst levels of child sex trafficking after Thailand , with an estimated , children involved. NGOs and officials report some police officers ignore the exploitation of children in sex trafficking, patronize brothels, and rob and assault women in prostitution, impeding identification of sex trafficking victims.
The government of Brazil was working stringently to clamp down on child prostitution. Prostitution itself exchanging sex for money in Brazil is legal, as there are no laws forbidding adult sex work, [1] but it is illegal to operate a brothel or to employ sex workers in any other way. The illegality of these types of houses is almost a contradiction, considering that most of the sex workers can't afford to work in an autonomous way.
The houses might be illegal, but aren't unusual in Brazil. Most of them are full of corruption and sexual exploitation. A project that aims to regulate the sex worker profession and rights.
The project would not only put an end to the terrible situations sex workers are subjected to, but would also help to avoid child sex trafficking and human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The Gabriela Leite law also emphasizes the urgency to regulate brothels and makes a clear distinction between sexual services and sexual exploitation.
In pressure by the sex worker organization Davida contributed to the Brazilian Ministry of Labor adding "sex worker" to an official list of occupations. Fernando Gabeira , founder of the Green Party , has been a strong voice for sex workers' rights in Brazil and introduced legislation in Congress to recognize sex workers as a profession. The bill was defeated in Brazilian sex workers have campaigned for the repeal of laws criminalizing the maintenance of whorehouses and pimping.
