Estupro virtual: o avanço da legislação penal frente aos desafios do cenário digital

Abstract

This research focuses on analyzing the influence of the internet on the spread of virtual sexual crimes and the impact of a connected society on the Brazilian Penal Code. Based on an interdisciplinary approach, the study explores the possibilities of a future specific typification of virtual rape, as well as the contextualization of the need to raise awareness about how sexual freedom must be respected regardless of the environment in which it is exercised. The study examines recent jurisprudential understandings that, for the crime of rape defined in Article two hundred and thirteen of the Brazilian Penal Code, direct physical contact between the victim and the aggressor is not essential. It is sufficient to establish a causal link between the sexual aggression committed for the offender’s gratification and the actual harm to the victim’s sexual dignity. The methodology used is bibliographic and qualitative, combining legal theories with doctrinal review and jurisprudential analysis. As a theoretical framework, the research adopts theories related to recent social phenomena, such as Castells’ Theory of the Network Society (2002), which describes how social interactions have been shaped by the internet. It also examines the position of jurists like Greco (2024) who argues that physical contact between the aggressor and the victim is unnecessary for the crime of rape to be considered consummated. Therefore, the study concludes that technological evolution, by reshaping social dynamics and enabling new forms of violation of sexual freedom, requires a proactive legislative response that is adequate to the changes brought about by digital society.