Brazilian model faces jail for topless dog walk

Brazilian model Caroline Werner. Photo from Werner’s Instagram

During a stroll home in the Brazilian coastal city of Balneário Camboriú with her dogs this May, 37-year-old Werner was apprehended, as reported by the New York Post. Police officers detained her and escorted her to a station, where she was reportedly not permitted to contact her family or a lawyer while handcuffed to a cell railing.

Released after an hour, Werner received a summons for committing an “obscene act in a public space.”

The court that is handling the case has reportedly offered her a plea deal, according to the Daily Mail. If Werner refuses the deal and is declared guilty of her “obscene act” charge later, she will face a jail term of three months to a year.

Werner asserts that the incident underscores a legal double standard in Brazil regarding gender. She points out that while men can legally go shirtless in public spaces in Brazil, the same is not applied for women, contrasting this with the norms she has experienced in other countries where women’s toplessness is not deemed hypersexualized or inappropriate.

The case has ignited online discussions about gender equality and public decency law interpretations.