Prostitution laws in Cabo Verde
Cabo Verde's Penal Code (Decree-Legislative No. 4/2003, republished in full after its fourth amendment by Law No. 117/IX/2021) contains no offence of selling or buying sex between adults. Its lenocínio offence (Article 148) punishes anyone who promotes, encourages, arranges, negotiates or in any way facilitates the prostitution of a child under 16 (six to ten years) or of a 16- or 17-year-old (two to six years), and applies the latter penalty where the person is an adult of particular vulnerability, including extreme economic need, and the offender takes advantage of it. An adult who pays a person aged 10 to 18 for sexual activity faces four to ten years (Article 145-A). Trafficking for sexual exploitation carries four to ten years, and knowingly using a trafficking victim's services one to five years (Article 271-A). No brothel or advertising offence was found.
Legal model
Decriminalisation. No prostitution-specific criminal law. Sex work is regulated like other work.
Borderline. No offence covers selling or buying sex between adults, and the procuring offence (lenocínio, Article 148) applies only where the person is a minor or an adult in a situation of particular vulnerability, such as extreme economic need, that the offender exploits. Organising consensual adult sex work is therefore not a crime as such, but sex work is not regulated as work either, so Cabo Verde fits the decriminalisation label only in the narrow sense of having no general sex-work offences.[1]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Legal | No offence of selling sex was found in the Penal Code. Engaging in explicit sexual acts in a public space is a general offence (Article 147-A: up to one year or a fine of up to 150 days), and sexually importuning another person, including by words or written proposals, is punishable under Article 145-B.[1] |
| Buying sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Buying sex from an adult is not an offence. An adult who, for payment or any other consideration, uses a person aged 10 to 18 in sexual activities or has sex with them faces four to ten years, six to twelve with penetration (Article 145-A). Knowingly using the services of a trafficking victim carries one to five years (Article 271-A(5)).[1] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | No offence of running a brothel or managed venue was found. Organising or facilitating adult prostitution becomes lenocínio only where the person is particularly vulnerable, for example through physical or mental impairment or extreme economic need, and the organiser takes advantage of it: two to six years (Article 148(3)).[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Lenocínio covers anyone who promotes, motivates, instigates, favours, arranges, negotiates or in any way helps or facilitates prostitution or sexual acts of a child under 16 (six to ten years) or of a 16- or 17-year-old (two to six years), and an adult of particular vulnerability whose situation the offender exploits (two to six years) (Article 148). Trafficking for sexual exploitation carries four to ten years (Article 271-A).[1][2] |
| Advertising sexual services | Legal | No offence specific to advertising sexual services was found in the Penal Code. Advertising the services of a minor, or of an adult whose vulnerability is exploited, could fall under lenocínio as facilitating their prostitution (Article 148).[1] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
No offence of selling sex was found in the Penal Code. Engaging in explicit sexual acts in a public space is a general offence (Article 147-A: up to one year or a fine of up to 150 days), and sexually importuning another person, including by words or written proposals, is punishable under Article 145-B.[1]
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Buying sex from an adult is not an offence. An adult who, for payment or any other consideration, uses a person aged 10 to 18 in sexual activities or has sex with them faces four to ten years, six to twelve with penetration (Article 145-A). Knowingly using the services of a trafficking victim carries one to five years (Article 271-A(5)).[1]
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
No offence of running a brothel or managed venue was found. Organising or facilitating adult prostitution becomes lenocínio only where the person is particularly vulnerable, for example through physical or mental impairment or extreme economic need, and the organiser takes advantage of it: two to six years (Article 148(3)).[1]
Confidence: medium. The absence of a brothel offence was established by reading the republished Code; other laws (licensing, public order) were not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Lenocínio covers anyone who promotes, motivates, instigates, favours, arranges, negotiates or in any way helps or facilitates prostitution or sexual acts of a child under 16 (six to ten years) or of a 16- or 17-year-old (two to six years), and an adult of particular vulnerability whose situation the offender exploits (two to six years) (Article 148). Trafficking for sexual exploitation carries four to ten years (Article 271-A).[1][2]
Before 2021, Article 148(3) referred only to 'a person in a situation of extreme economic need'; Law No. 117/IX/2021 widened it to adults of particular vulnerability, 'notably' through reduced physical capacity, mental disorder, extreme economic need or equivalent vulnerability. Profiting from the prostitution of a consenting adult who is not in such a situation is not an offence under Article 148.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No offence specific to advertising sexual services was found in the Penal Code. Advertising the services of a minor, or of an adult whose vulnerability is exploited, could fall under lenocínio as facilitating their prostitution (Article 148).[1]
Confidence: low. Advertising, press and media laws were not checked; no case on advertising or websites was found.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Lei n.º 117/IX/2021, de 11 de fevereiro: procede à quarta alteração ao Código Penal (Boletim Oficial, I Série, n.º 15), com republicação Penal Code (Decree-Legislative No. 4/2003 of 18 November 2003), republished in full with Law No. 117/IX/2021 of 11 February 2021 art. 145.º-A · art. 148.º · art. 271.º-A | Article 148 (lenocínio) limits the procuring offence to minors and vulnerable adults; Article 145-A punishes paying minors for sex; Article 271-A covers trafficking.[1] | 2021 |
| Decreto-legislativo n.º 4/2015, de 11 de novembro: altera o Código Penal (Boletim Oficial, I Série, n.º 69), com republicação Decree-Legislative No. 4/2015 of 11 November 2015 amending the Penal Code (with republication) art. 148.º | Earlier republication of the Code, with Article 148(3) referring to persons in extreme economic need.[2] | 2015 |
Timeline
- 18 November 2003Decree-Legislative No. 4/2003 approves the Penal Code.[2]
- 11 November 2015Decree-Legislative No. 4/2015 amends and republishes the Penal Code, adding an offence for adults who pay minors for sex (Article 145-A) and toughening penalties for child prostitution.[2]
- 11 February 2021Law No. 117/IX/2021, the Code's fourth amendment, rewrites Article 148, raises the penalties for child prostitution and extends lenocínio to adults of particular vulnerability.[1]
Sources
- Lei n.º 117/IX/2021, de 11 de fevereiro: procede à quarta alteração ao Código Penal (Boletim Oficial, I Série, n.º 15), com republicação (Law No. 117/IX/2021 of 11 February 2021, fourth amendment to the Penal Code, with republication of the Code). Imprensa Nacional de Cabo Verde (Boletim Oficial), 11 February 2021. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Decreto-legislativo n.º 4/2015, de 11 de novembro: altera o Código Penal (Boletim Oficial, I Série, n.º 69), com republicação (Decree-Legislative No. 4/2015 of 11 November 2015 amending the Penal Code, with republication). Imprensa Nacional de Cabo Verde (Boletim Oficial), 11 November 2015. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026