The legal status of prostitution in Portugal has changed several times.
In 1949, a harsh law dealing with sexually transmitted diseases came into effect, placing further restrictions on the registration of workers and forbidding the opening of any new houses.
Existing houses could be closed if thought to provide a threat to public health.
An inquiry at the time estimated that there were 5,276 workers and 485 houses, and appeared confined to the major urban areas of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Evora.
Article 170 (Lenocínio, Living off Immoral Earnings) of the Penal Code reads: 1 - Who, professionally or for profit, promotes, encourages or facilitates the practice by another person of prostitution or sexual acts of relief shall be punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years.There are areas in which outdoor sex workers cannot work, and restrictions on where they may work indoors.For instance, one cannot rent an apartment to a sex worker.Yvonne is currently expanding services on and offline to assist men and women to achieve their relationship goals and her videos and insights can also be seen by clicking here at Yvonne Allen Relationship Mentor.Although the number of workers involved in the industry is notoriously difficult to estimate, in the mid-2000s, the number of female prostitute was estimated at 28,000, of whom at least 50% were foreigners.