A prostituição (feminina) no limbo do Direito Brasileiro

This article analyzes the limits of the legal treatment given to adult and voluntary prostitution in Brazil, focusing on the tension between the non-criminalization of the individual exercise of the activity and the absence of specific regulation capable of ensuring social rights, protection against violence, and access to justice. It also examines the distinction between sex work, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking, avoiding the presumption that all prostitution constitutes exploitation. A qualitative approach was adopted through bibliographic and documentary research, analyzing Brazilian legislation, international human rights instruments, and official Austrian documents. Austria is used as a comparative experience, especially regarding health rules, oversight, social security, and workers' autonomy. It is argued that the Brazilian model produces incomplete legal recognition: the occupation is administratively identified, but lacks sufficient institutional protection. It is concluded that any future Brazilian policy must combine the recognition of autonomy, social rights, confidentiality, reporting mechanisms, and the oversight of exploiters, with the participation of the workers themselves, without turning regulation into an instrument of surveillance or exclusion.