From free womb to criminalized woman
Fertility control in Brazilian slavery and freedom
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9364673 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cassia Roth (0000-0001-8084-3355, Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 269-286 |
| Publication date | 2017-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Slavery and Abolition (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0144-039X • E-ISSN: 1743-9523 |
| Publisher | Frank Cass & Co (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0144039x.2017.1316965 |
| OpenAlex | W2605678533 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
This article explores how the abolition of slavery affected the prosecution of abortion and infanticide in Rio de Janeiro. Analysing judicial documents, criminal and civil legislation, and travel writings, it demonstrates that the state did not prosecute enslaved women for fertility control due to the contradictory legal status of their bodies as both property and person. After abolition, the state prosecuted all women, but particularly poor women of colour, for these crimes. The article argues that as patriarchal control over women’s reproductive capabilities moved from the private to the public sphere, fertility control became a central axis on which the state articulated gendered and racialized power
Abortion · Control (management · Criminal law · Criminology · Economics · Fertility · Legislation · Political science · Population · Power (physics · Sociology · State (computer science · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Demography · Law · Sex work and related issues
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,88 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |