Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Representations of women students of law about reproductive rights: between knowledge and values

Abstract

The present article consists of an interdisciplinary analysis of the results obtained in an empirical research carried out with undergraduates of the Law School of the Fluminense Federal University regarding their representations on reproductive rights in the process of higher education. Upon collection data were analyzed based on contemporary social theories on gender relations and on legal education. The aim was to understand the tensions between curricular knowledge and individual values in the basic training on the university level. The text aims to contribute to the production of knowledge about the professional ethos of legal experts, produced since the early stages of formation. As a result, one can identify trends regarding the legal treatment of controversies related to reproductive rights, because students´representations have a potential effect on the performance of the stakeholders within the Court System. The intersections between representations on reproductive rights, legal education and the criminalization of this practice highlight restrictions on the exercise of women’s sexual rights and reproductive rights, as well as the limits on advancing human and women’s rights and the democratization of women in the Brazilian society. The outcome of the research, makes it possible to think over whether the curriculum in Law courses are suitable and problematize the national guidelines for higher-education legal training.

Law teaching; Women´s human rights; Reproductive rights; Right to abortion

Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo Av. da Universidade, 308 - Biblioteca, 1º andar 05508-040 - São Paulo SP Brasil, Tel./Fax.: (55 11) 30913520 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revedu@usp.br