Entre a moral e o controle: estudo historiográfico de políticas criminais e de administração pública sobre prostituição e estupro no Brasil

This study addresses public policies related to prostitution and criminal policies on rape in Brazil. It aims to reconstruct the structural logic of such policies and historically situated control mechanisms. It adopted literature review and document analysis as methodological strategies. The bibliographic survey was conducted in the SciELO database using the terms prostitution, rape, justice, and violence, with selection criteria of free access availability and thematic relevance regarding: access to justice for female prostitutes who are victims of rape; criminal prosecution and use of gender categories regarding the victim. The documentary survey was conducted on the RVBI Network using the terms prostitution and rape. Due to thematic affinity, works by Evaristo de Moraes, a jurist with relevant experience in the subject in Brazilian justice, were selected. Examination of the sources allows us to observe: logics of distinction between honest and ‘dishonest’ women, the moralising character of Brazilian public policies inspired by social medicine and supported by the National Academy of Medicine, certain mechanisms of control by the public authorities (registration, compulsory examinations, adaptation of prostitutes to formal and taxable work) - efforts aimed at ‘sanitising’ prostitution and which together demonstrate a society that considers female prostitutes to be objects of control and not subjects of rights. While recognising the legislative changes - instruments of women's social struggle in Brazil - the work invites reflection on the articulation of criminal and health policies and their effects of power over women.