In times when Brazil faces both political stagnation and moments of undeniable progress in the recognition of rights, the release of Olívia Paixão’s book Entre a Batalha e o Direito: Prostituição, Travestilidade e Trabalho stands as a powerful and timely contribution. The book emerges in the same month that the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court affirmed the right of trans women, trans men, and travestis to change their name and gender on official records, marking an important step in the struggle for dignity and legal equality. Against this backdrop, Paixão’s work brings to light another crucial aspect of trans existence often silenced in legal and academic discussions: the realities of trans women and travestis who engage in sex work.
The author, a lawyer and former member of the Human Rights and LGBT Citizenship Center (NUH) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, has spent years researching and interacting with trans sex workers in the main prostitution zones of her city. Her observations and experiences form the backbone of this book, which is both a legal study and a sociopolitical testimony. She explores the dissonance between the formal language of law and the lived realities of those who fight daily for survival and recognition. The title itself, Between Battle and Law, captures this tension perfectly: the “battle” refers to the everyday struggle of travestis and trans women in the streets, while the “law” represents a world of formal justice that often overlooks them.
Paixão examines the distance between what the law promises and what it delivers. She addresses the recurring gaps that emerge when legislation attempts to regulate prostitution without considering the voices of those most affected by it. Central to her analysis is the Projeto de Lei Gabriela Leite (Bill 4.211/12), proposed by Congressman Jean Wyllys, which seeks to regulate sex work in Brazil. While the bill was celebrated as a progressive measure for sex workers’ rights, Paixão points out that it was written primarily with cisgender sex workers in mind, neglecting the specific experiences of travestis and trans women. For these women, sex work is not merely an occupation but often a matter of survival in a society that systematically denies them access to formal employment, education, and healthcare.
Paixão’s writing does not limit itself to legal critique; it is also a call for empathy and action. She reminds readers that the fight for rights is not only fought in courts but also on the streets, in the daily resilience of those who are denied the most basic recognition. Her approach merges academic rigor with emotional engagement, turning her book into both a study and a manifesto. By including testimonies and case studies from her fieldwork, she gives voice to the women who inhabit the “pistas e esquinas”, the streets and corners where legal theory dissolves into human reality.
What makes Entre a Batalha e o Direito remarkable is its insistence on viewing trans sex workers not as victims, but as political subjects whose experiences challenge and expand the very meaning of citizenship and labor. Paixão demonstrates that their exclusion from the labor market is not accidental but a direct result of how gender norms and social hierarchies are legally constructed and maintained. To speak of prostitution without addressing transness, she suggests, is to erase a large part of the struggle for social justice in Brazil.
The release of this book could not be more relevant. While the Supreme Court’s recognition of gender identity represents progress, Paixão warns that symbolic victories are insufficient without structural change. The law can affirm a right, but if society continues to marginalize those who claim it, the promise remains hollow. By confronting the disconnection between legislation and lived experience, Paixão urges readers, lawmakers, and activists to rethink what justice means for those who live “between battle and law.”
Ultimately, Olívia Paixão’s Entre a Batalha e o Direito: Prostituição, Travestilidade e Trabalho stands as a testament to courage, compassion, and intellectual honesty. It exposes the contradictions of a legal system that often claims neutrality while perpetuating inequality, and it celebrates the resilience of those who, in the face of violence and invisibility, continue to assert their right to exist, to work, and to be recognized. In a time when political debates around gender and sexuality are increasingly polarized, Paixão’s book offers a nuanced and necessary reminder that real change begins with listening to those whose voices have long been excluded from the conversation.
Available via Amazon
Post a Comment