Title: The sovereign's vigilant eye ? Daily policing and women in Rio de Janeiro, 1907-1930
Abstract: The article discusses the role of the police in early twentieth-century Rio de Janeiro, focusing on the control of female behaviour in the records of police stations. The study of police attitudes towards women provides a useful introduction to a more general analysis of how policemen develop their world-views and behaviour. Contrary to common assumptions, women were frequently present in daily police work, either as criminals or victims, and policemen tried to select those deserving of protection, and those who should be seen as a threat to morality or order. This close relationship enables us to analyse how policemen developed their views about society and morals, observing the procedures they established for dealing with female thieves, vagrants, prostitutes, and victims of sexual offences.