Many people in Portugal are feeling the sting of the poor economy that has plagued many European countries for the last number of years.

As a result, many women who would otherwise be working regular jobs are finding themselves seeking opportunities in the sex industry.

One woman named Silvia who told The Daily Beast said she lost her €485-a-month job and found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. She had a mortgage to pay off as well as mounting school bills for her son. So she turned to selling sexual services by advertising it in a newspaper and now she earns €2000 a month.

She said: “I had never thought about it. But after two or three badly paid jobs and sometimes not even getting paid at all, this was the only solution I found to make ends meet.”

And Silvia is not alone. Many Portuguese women between the ages of 30 and 50 are turning to prostitution not to simply make a quick buck, but to make an income as a result of the economic downturn in Portugal.

However, its not only Portugal which is experiencing this – Spain is also going through something similar where in Madrid there has been a 10% to 15% increase in prostitution in the last two years.