Prostitution in Latvia is legal and regulated. Sex trafficking , [4] child prostitution , [5] and HIV [6] are all problems in Latvia. Prostitutes must have reached age of majority and receive a health card from a Venereologist and undergo health check every month, they must be able to produce the health card on clients request. A prostitute may not provide services while having herpes infection , Dermatophytosis , pubic lice , gonococcal infection , chlamydia , scabies , leprosy or syphilis.
A person who has HIV infection is banned from providing sexual services. Although prostitution is regulated in Latvia, brothels and other forms of procuring are illegal. Persons are prohibited to join in groups in order to offer and provide sexual services for fee or to receive orders for sexual services. The managers of entertainment and recreational establishments must ensure that sexual services for fee are not offered, provided and received in their establishments.
According to the law "Any activity of the third person which promotes prostitution is prohibited" and "Persons are prohibited to join in groups in order to offer and provide sexual services However, they may not provide services if neighbours object. Furthermore, the residence may not be closer than one hundred meters from a school or a church. Any violation of restrictions on prostitution is punished by a fine in an amount up to latvian lats for a person and up to lats for a company.
The country is a destination for sex tourism. The film is about the way Latvian sex industry and its being fuelled by businessmen and sex tourists from Sweden visiting Riga. The film was shot in Riga in July Hollender claimed that police worked as part time pimps and there was corruption in the police force generally. Official figures were, at the time, between 3, and 4, in the country with 80 percent in Riga. Latvia is a source country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking.
Latvian women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in Latvia and other parts of Europe. Government agencies note an increase in child sex trafficking cases over the past few years. Latvian women recruited for brokered marriages in Western Europe, particularly Ireland , are vulnerable to sex trafficking. Sections and of its criminal law prohibit all forms of trafficking and prescribe a maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment.
