Caroline Werner's Arrest for Walking Dogs Topless in Brazil Reminds US That The #FreeTheNipple Debate Is Not Over

A few weeks ago, 37-year-old model Caroline Werner protested Brazil's unequal treatment of women with respect to topless nudity in public by walking her dogs topless in the southern coastal city of Balneário Camboriú. And the world took notice (cause, of course, it was caught on video by stunned onlookers). Carolina was arrested for public indecency, of course. And she is

facing fine and a year in jail. But her defiance and breasts have brought attention back to the debate that everyone seems to have forgotten: #FreeTheNipple. "Unfortunately, in my country even though the Constitution ensures gender equality, in practice this does not happen," she told Brazilian news outlet G1. "What should be normal for both genders ends up being denied to one of them in an arbitrary and repressive manner." As to how it went down (though it was captured on video (see below for the uncensored version)), Caroline explained, "When crossing the street to leave the dogs, I was approached by the Municipal Guard in a completely arbitrary and disproportionate way." She said, "They arrived already putting my hands behind me and handcuffing me." After offering her a shirt, Caroline says police took her to a station and left her handcuffed against metal bars in the "dark" jail cell. She has alleged that the police violated her due process rights by not allowing allow her to place a phone call to her family or a lawyer. 

Caroline complained that "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,” and that "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." She added, "In many countries, it is a completely normal practice." And "A woman's body is not objectified and hypersexualised." Caroline objected that "What happened to me, the abuse of authority and judgment by society, demonstrate how the interpretation of the law itself reflects gender conduct dictated by patriarchal, violent culture, in relation to the control of female bodies."