A Brazilian model blasted her country's legal system after being arrested earlier this year after she went topless flashing her boobs while walking her dogs, according to a report. Caroline Werner slammed Brazil's 'patriarchal, violent culture' despite its laid-back image, and said it wouldn't prosecute a man for a similar offense.
Werner was handcuffed in May after being stopped by the police for walking outside bare-breasted while crossing the street near the beach in Balneário Camboriú, a coastal city in the south of Brazil. She is now questioning whether Brazil's constitution provides the same freedoms for women as it does for men, who are allowed to be shirtless in public.
Seeking Answers on Equality
"Unfortunately in my country, even though the Constitution ensures gender equality, in practice this does not happen, I cannot have the same freedom and I feel coerced into doing so by this system and the repressive interpretation of the law," Werner, 37, told Brazilian outlet G1.
"What should be natural for both genders ends up being denied to one of them in an arbitrary and repressive manner."
Werner explained that she chose to remove her top while walking her dogs home from the beach and was approached by several officers who arrested her, placed her into a van, and transported her to a police station where she was provided with a blouse to cover herself.
Werner alleges that her due process rights were violated by the police, claiming that she was not permitted to make a phone call to her family or a lawyer.
"When I arrived at the police station, they took me to a dark cell, where I was handcuffed to the cell railing, without the right to communicate with any family member, friend or lawyer," she said.
"I spent more than an hour in that situation, unable to speak to anyone and — even though I had asked for — I was denied my right to speak to my lawyer several times."
Brazil's Strange Laws
Despite its reputation for scantily-clad performers at the Rio Carnival and being a global tourist destination with its golden beaches, Brazil maintains obscenity laws dating back to the 1940s. These laws prohibit women from exposing their breasts in public.
Werner was issued a summons for 'committing an obscene act' after taking off her shirt at a beach and tying it around her waist before walking her dogs in May of this year.
The charge, described under Article 233 of the Penal Code, pertains to "performing an obscene act in a public place, either open or exposed to the public."
Werner, a businesswoman who owns her own bikini line, said that she has traveled extensively all over the world without encountering any problems while being topless. However, she expressed dismay at being detained in the South American country.
"In many countries, it is a completely normal practice," she said. "A woman's body is not objectified and hypersexualized."
If found guilty, Werner could face a prison sentence between three months to one year.
The Santa Catarina state prosecutor's office is handling the case and has offered her a plea deal. However, she, having relocated from Balneário Camboriú, did not attend the hearing. Her attorney claimed she was not informed of the hearing and is seeking a new date.
Werner said that the entire incident is being exaggerated online.
"What happened to me, the abuse of authority and judgment by society, demonstrates how the interpretation of the law itself reflects gender conduct dictated by patriarchal, violent culture, in relation to the control of female bodies," she said.
