Censorship in Salazar’s Portugal had implications, most notably on women.

Salazar believed
that women should not work outside the family sphere,​1​ he claimed that his efforts to achieve
that were useless,​2​ however, he successfully prohibit married women from employment as
nurses or in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.​3​ In terms of publications, for example, ​Novas
Cartas Portuguesas​, which contains “sociological accounts of the female experience”​4​ and
addresses issues of incest, rape, wife beating, prostitution, economic dependency, and
suicide​5​ was “charged with dissent against [...] the patriarchy”.​6​ The book was censored and
the authors were charged with “abuse of the freedom of the press" and [an] outrage to public
decency.”​7​ Censorship could have denied women in Portugal access to the feminist
movement as seen in that the majority of women in the 1940s and 1950s did “stay in the
shadow of their homes with heads bowed before their husband.”​8​ This extends further into
setting a precedent for other regimes to do the same. For example, Franco’s Spain erased
discussions of sexuality in printed matter, films, and plays, in addition, the Spanish church
banned any work that promoted abortion and/or contraception.​9

Under Salazar, censorship also impacted politics, particularly the colonies. Decree-23203
laid down that the press can commit crimes of rebellion against Portugal's territorial integrity,
further, decree-23241 criminalized advocating for the break-up of the empire and authorized
colonial governors to ban journalists who threatened security and public order.​10​ ​Novas
Cartas Portuguesas​ was also out of line when it came to this issue as it exposed the
suffering of women as a result of many great deals including colonialism.​11​ Even though
Portugal settled down and the threat of censorship receded, a complaint was made by the
church on a series criticizing the catholic hierarchy’s support for repression in the colonies. It
was canceled.​12

Bibliography:
1. Sadlier, Darlene J. “Form in ‘Novas Cartas Portuguesas.’” ​NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction​,
vol. 19, no. 3, 1986, pp. 246–263. ​JSTOR​, www.jstor.org/stable/1345633. Accessed 7
Oct. 2020.
2. De Figueiredo, Antonio. ​“The dictatorship, 1926-74”​ from ​“CENSORSHIP: A WORLD
ENCYCLOPEDIA”​, vol. 3, pp. 1914-1918.
3. Laprade, Douglas E. ​“Franco’s Spain”​ from ​“CENSORSHIP: A WORLD
ENCYCLOPEDIA”​, vol. 4, pp. 2314-2315.

1
Sadlier, p.247.
2
Sadlier, p.248.
3
Sadlier, p.248.
4
Sadlier, p.255.
5
Sadlier, p.255.
6
Sadlier, p.263.
7
Sadlier, p.250.
8
Sadlier, p.248.
9
Laprade, p. 2314.
10
​ e Figueiredo​, p. 1915.
D
11
Sadlier, p.250.
12
​ e Figueiredo,​ p. 1917.
D