In the early 70s, a young Brazilian journalist named Fernando Gabeira joined a radical group to fight a military dictatorship. The most famous act of this group was the kidnapping of the American ambassador in Brazil, Charles Burke Elbrick. They successfully exchanged him for 13 prisoners who being tortured in military prisons.
Today, Gabeira takes on different fights, using far less violent means. He is an environmentalist leader and a well-respected congressman. He campaigns against corruption in congress and advocates decriminalization of marijuana. He also authored of a bill legalizing prostitution, which is still pending a vote.
Gabeira's proposed bill is short and direct, asserting that prostitution is a job like any other, that has existed since the beginning of civilization, and deserves fair pay. The inspiration for the bill was Germany's 2001 law legalizing prostitution. Although his bill does not address prostitution of minors, in his blog he supports banning prostitution of those less than 18 years old.
According to a survey conducted for the Brazilian weekly magazine Epoca, there are one million female prostitutes in Brazil. Interestingly, some prostitutes oppose legalization because they don’t want their families to know what they do for a living. Some of these prostitutes come from the middle class. Recently, a middle class call girl who called herself Bruna Surfistinha became a best-selling author when she decided to tell her story.
The issue of legalizing prostitution does not mobilize Brazilian society, but, fortunately, the concern about child prostitution and its association with sexual tourism is spreading. The Brazilian Government and NGOs are working together against this perversity.
Brazil is not socially conservative despite its Catholic majority. The bishops have more influence in political issues than moral ones. There are two reasons for this: first, during the dictatorship, the Catholic hierarchy joined democrats and leftists to overthrow the military regime; second, in moral issues, bishops are too old-fashioned, defending widely unaccepted ideas such as opposing the use of contraceptives.
So what will Brazilian society say when Gabeira's bill on prostitution comes to a vote? It's unpredictable. Congress will probably postpone a vote forever, eluding the issue and betting that Brazilian's social tolerance will find a way regardless.
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