Penal Code Amendment 2018

Brief Description

In 2015, Portugal proceeded to the amendment of the penal code, including the following as criminal offences:
- Female Genital Mutilation (Article 144A) leading to imprisionment for 2-10 years
- Stalking (Article 154A) punishment for which includes a prison sentence for upto 3 years or a fine
- Forced Marriage (Article 154B) which involves compelling another person to marry or other similar unions bearing the punishment sentence for up to 5 years

Article 152 of Penal Code, which defines the crime of domestic violence, was recently amended by Law 44/2018, whereby a new aggravating circumstance was added: the dissemination, on the Internet or by any other means of public dissemination, of personal data, namely image or sound, regarding the privacy of one of the victims without his/her consent. In this case, the penalty is increased (ranging from two to five years). On the other hand, all governmental areas must make specific budget allocations every year for the prevention and fight against violence against women and domestic violence (VAWDV), which increased 67% between 2017 and 2019.