“ ‘I know it when I see it’: Human Rights, Pornography and Prostitution: Legal and Regulatory Dilemmas, Justice and Citizenship in the 21st Century”

Abstract

Com base numa perspetiva de direitos humanos, a presente tese baseou-se numa pesquisa de fundo jurídica e sociológica, com o intuito de comparar e contrapor questões legais relativas a materiais de teor sexual e os respetivos serviços com eles relacionados nos Estados Unidos da América e na União Europeia. Não obstante, para além dos países pertencentes à União Europeia, foram analisadas questões jurídicas relativas a outros países com o propósito de apresentar uma visão mais abrangente dos fenómenos em causa. Assim, a presente tese focou-se essencialmente em resoluções da União Europeia, no Direito Português e em casos judiciais e regulamentação dos Estados Unidos da América. No âmbito da procura de um modelo regulatório para a União Europeia quanto a materiais e serviços de teor sexual no contexto da indústria dos conteúdos de entretenimento para adultos, foi também levado a cabo um exercício de analogia quanto à regulamentação existente em Portugal relativa à descriminalização do consumo de estupefacientes. O sucesso inequívoco deste modelo português de combate às drogas, considerado o mais progressista no contexto da União Europeia, foi também utilizado como base para uma hipotética regulamentação para Portugal, como “país-piloto” para a implementação de um modelo regulatório relativo a materiais e serviços de teor sexual. Logo, o propósito da presente tese de doutoramento não é só propor um modelo de regulamentação de conteúdos para adultos e serviços sexuais em geral na União Europeia, mas também proporcionar, em particular, às pessoas que prestam este tipo de serviços, uma proteção efetiva a nível dos seus direitos humanos, incluindo serviços de saúde adequados, assim como segurança social e fiscal, para que possam também lidar com as especificidades das suas atividades, mas também proporcionar estratégias de saída para quem queira deixar de levar a cabo este tipo de serviços, com o apoio necessário da parte do Estado relativamente às suas escolhas.

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Abstract

From a human rights perspective, this dissertation involved legal and sociological background work to compare and contrast the legal issues around sexual materials and services in the United States of America and the European Union. However, legal issues from other countries besides those in the EU and the USA were also approached to provide a broader view of the phenomena at stake. Thus, this dissertation is mostly focused on EU resolutions, Portuguese law, and USA case law and regulations. In the search for a general regulatory model for the EU regarding sexual services and materials in the context of the adult content industry, an analogical legal exercise regarding the Portuguese regulation on the decriminalization of the consumption of drugs was also carried out. The overwhelming success of this Portuguese regulation as the most progressive model in the European Union, will therefore serve as the basis of a hypothetical regulation for Portugal as a pilot country for a regulatory model regarding sexual services and materials. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is not only to propose how to regulate sexual services and adult content in general in the EU, but particularly to provide people rendering these types of services with effective human rights and protection, including the adequate healthcare, welfare and tax conditions they need in order to enable them to deal with the specificities of their activities, but also to offer exit strategies to those who want to cease to carry out these types of services while providing the necessary State support for their choices.

From a human rights perspective, this dissertation involved legal and sociological background work to compare and contrast the legal issues around sexual materials and services in the United States of America and the European Union. However, legal issues from other countries besides those in the EU and the USA were also approached to provide a broader view of the phenomena at stake. Thus, this dissertation is mostly focused on EU resolutions, Portuguese law, and USA case law and regulations. In the search for a general regulatory model for the EU regarding sexual services and materials in the context of the adult content industry, an analogical legal exercise regarding the Portuguese regulation on the decriminalization of the consumption of drugs was also carried out. The overwhelming success of this Portuguese regulation as the most progressive model in the European Union, will therefore serve as the basis of a hypothetical regulation for Portugal as a pilot country for a regulatory model regarding sexual services and materials. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is not only to propose how to regulate sexual services and adult content in general in the EU, but particularly to provide people rendering these types of services with effective human rights and protection, including the adequate healthcare, welfare and tax conditions they need in order to enable them to deal with the specificities of their activities, but also to offer exit strategies to those who want to cease to carry out these types of services while providing the necessary State support for their choices.