Our Riga Sex Guide explores the current state of the adult industry, local adult services, and the laws around the escort business in Latvia.
Sex workers must adhere to specific regulations, including health checks, and must be at least 25 years old. Although individual sex work is permitted, brothels and pimping are illegal. There are significant penalties for engaging in illegal prostitution or related activities, such as fines and possible imprisonment.
The appeal of a free market has attracted lots of migrants to the country which makes it easy to find sex workers. About ten years ago, Riga was mooted as the sex capital of Europe and the entire city was considered one huge red-light district. Street prostitution was rife and illegal brothels flourished with the high demand. However, the authorities have clamped down on a large number of illegal pimping activities and curbed the general influx of street sex-work.
As a result, larger numbers of sex workers now ply their trade online through escort sites and using classified advertising. Licensed prostitutes are subject to regular health screens and carry a health check card that they can present to punters on request.
Some prostitutes work in strip clubs and whilst they are easy to hire, they charge considerably more than the girls on local escort sites. The Riga authorities have undertaken a very thorough and effective clean-up of this area. Street prostitution is not really a thing anymore. While there are remnants of the sex tourism that Riga used to be known for, the industry is now mostly accessed through online communities. Latvian girls typically exhibit a range of physical features influenced by Baltic and Nordic genetics.
