Gabriella V茅o Lopes Da Silva
Direction:
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As a doctoral researcher, she is conducting an interdisciplinary study entitled: 鈥淎 socio-legal study of sexual violence against children and children鈥檚 sexual freedom in Brazil and Switzerland: How to balance between protection and emancipation through the lens of children鈥檚 rights studies?鈥澨�
At the heart of her PhD project lies a fundamental and persistent tension between two equally significant rights: on the one hand, the right of children and adolescents to be protected from sexual violence and exploitation, and on the other, their right to sexual freedom and personal autonomy. This tension is particularly evident in the legal frameworks of Brazil and Switzerland: two jurisdictions that, despite their distinct legal traditions and socio-political contexts, both struggle with the challenge of delineating the boundaries between sexual protection and sexual freedom. In both countries, legal and social discourses surrounding adolescent sexuality remain marked by ambiguities and contradictions, raising crucial questions about how to achieve a more balanced and rights-based approach.
Her research is thus fundamentally concerned with navigating this delicate equilibrium between protection and autonomy, ensuring that the right to be shielded from sexual violence does not disproportionately override other fundamental rights, such as personal choice and self-determination. Her study explores how, from an interdisciplinary perspective within the field of children鈥檚 rights studies, it is possible to distinguish between sexual violence and sexual emancipation 鈥� an issue of particular relevance in contexts where legal systems, through rigid and sometimes outdated classifications, fail to account for the complexity of adolescent experiences and the nuanced ways in which young people navigate their sexual identities and relationships.