World · Latin America · 14 hrs ago
Child-free venues leave some families feeling excluded in Brazil
Some businesses in Brazil restrict entry to children, and families say the rules can leave them embarrassed or without a place to stay.
Photographer Marcelle Cerutti said a bar in central São Paulo turned her and her five-year-old son away in 2022, even though cyclists and people with dogs were allowed inside.
Administrator Vanessa Fraga said a pousada in Juquehy, on the coast of São Paulo state, refused her family because her daughter was under 12.
The child-free movement supports spaces limited to adults, often in pursuit of a quieter environment.
Sociologist Wesley Santana says falling birth rates mean adults have fewer chances to get used to children’s noise and behavior, while individual comfort is increasingly prioritized over shared spaces.
Brazil’s consumer rights group Idec says excluding children from public-access businesses may violate consumer and other laws, and an Idec lawyer says children have a right to family and community life.
The legal debate over these restrictions continues.
Families in Brazil say child-free rules at bars and hotels have left them feeling excluded and embarrassed.
Photographer Marcelle Cerutti said a bar in central São Paulo refused entry to her and her five-year-old son in 2022.
The consumer-rights group Idec says barring children from commercial establishments may violate Brazilian law.
Sociologist Wesley Santana links intolerance of children’s behavior to a focus on individual comfort and less everyday contact with children.
Singer Juliette Freire said children would be excluded from her wedding party but could attend the religious ceremony.
- Who
- Families with children, businesses that restrict children, and advocates including Idec.
- What
- Child-free rules at some venues are prompting concerns that families are being excluded.
- When
- The article was published on October 11, 2026; the examples include an incident in 2022 and comments made in September.
- Where
- Brazil, including São Paulo and Juquehy on the northern coast of São Paulo state.
- Why
- Some venues seek adult-only settings, while families and consumer-rights advocates say excluding children can cause harm and may violate their rights.
Businesses restricting children
Families and child-rights advocates
Venue access
Businesses restricting children
Some establishments restrict children to offer adults an environment without children.
Families and child-rights advocates
Families say such restrictions can exclude and embarrass parents and children.
Rights and rules
Businesses restricting children
Some venues set age limits, including a Juquehy inn that did not accept children under 12.
Families and child-rights advocates
Idec says excluding children from commercial establishments is abusive and violates consumer and other rights.
I felt very alone. It was violence.
The problem is this valuing of the private environment, where the individual's pleasure is the only thing that matters and the collective ceases to matter.
Children and adolescents have the right to family and community life. They cannot be summarily excluded on the pretext that the establishment is exclusively for adults.
I think it's bad for the child, bad for the couple, who have to look after them, and the child runs around, someone runs into them and the child gets hurt, shouts.
Marcelle Cerutti said a bar in central São Paulo turned her and her five-year-old son away.
Juliette Freire said on the GNT program Papo de Segunda that children would not attend her wedding party.
Juliette's wedding to Kaique Cerveny was scheduled for the end of the month, with children allowed at the religious ceremony.
- Marcelle Cerutti
- 39-year-old photographer
- São Paulo bar incident
- 2022; her son was 5
- Juquehy inn
- Did not accept children under 12
- Vanessa Fraga's daughter
- 4 when the family was turned away
- Juliette Freire's wedding
- Children could attend the religious ceremony but not the party
- Publication date
- October 11, 2026
Sources
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