# In how many countries in the world is Prostitution legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611 "2005-01-31T16:25:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/21 "2005-02-02T11:53:56Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > It is legal in Australia in approved brothels but not for streetwalkers. Some daily papers have pages of ads for different services. To add to that, in my state at least, the brothels have a maximum of 5 sex workers there at a time, and prostitutes can also work on their own (they can advertise on the internet and be listed under “escorts”, etc). ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/22 "2005-02-02T12:05:11Z")
In the UK prostitution is perfectly legal - but the woman better keep quiet about it. She can’t advertise, have a flat for the purpose or even walk in certain areas wearing certain togs. Having said that the back of most local papers have loads of ads for “massage” services - and they’re not talking tennis elbow. It’s a hypocritical mess. In Kings Cross in London (a traditional area for this) you will have one governement agency - the police, persecuting the women and another, _at the same time in the same place_ trying to make contact with them (health and drug agencies). ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/23 "2005-02-02T13:05:11Z")
I think people will not be surprised when I add the Netherlands to the list of where it is legal. However, rather unlike our semi-legal position towards soft-drugs, we recently made prostitution fully legal. Limitations are street prostitution, which is still very restricted to certain areas, and many cities don’t want such areas at all and/or have recently closed them down. It’s still not wholly unproblematic, in other words. But other than that, it’s fully legal, taxes and all. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/24 "2005-02-02T13:25:54Z")
When you say “street prostitution” does that mean the windows like in Amsterdam or actual street-walkers? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/25 "2005-02-02T13:57:39Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > True, although there have been crackdowns lately. Tokyo was relatively strict about it (it still went on, though), but is next-door Kanagawa Prefecture (where Yokohama is), it was pretty open. My old apartment was near the Tokyo/Kanagawa border, and right over the river was a small complex of little shacks with pink lamps over each door. At night, the women (usually Thai or Russian) would stand in the doorways and call in customers. Recently, however, these areas have been closed down. What’s the reason for this crackdown? Conservatives elected to the local (or national) governments? A shift in public morals? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Gaius.Cornelius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gaius.Cornelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaius.Cornelius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/26 "2005-02-02T17:48:27Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > In the UK prostitution is perfectly legal - but the woman better keep quiet about it. She can’t advertise, have a flat for the purpose or even walk in certain areas wearing certain togs. > > Having said that the back of most local papers have loads of ads for “massage” services - and they’re not talking tennis elbow. > > It’s a hypocritical mess. In Kings Cross in London (a traditional area for this) you will have one governement agency - the police, persecuting the women and another, _at the same time in the same place_ trying to make contact with them (health and drug agencies). IANAL, but as I understand it, the situation in the UK is particularly interesting and peculiarly British. The UK has many laws that are very old and are regarded as having been quietly lapsed although technically they are still in force. Also, there is no written consitution that insists that all laws must be enforceable. All this leads to a certain _flexibility_. In general, in recent years authorities have used their powers to discourage steet walkers and their clients while tolerating other forms of prostitution provided they do not cause a public nusiance. As **owlstretchingtime** says, we get a strange combination of tolerance and harassment. However, there are exceptions such as the new scheme [in Liverpool](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4207391.stm). Is this really legal? I don’t think anybody is really sure. It is no wonder that we get quotes like this: “We are not proposing a tolerance zone, but an intolerance zone. We will allow prostitutes to work but we will be intolerant of prostitution.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/27 "2005-02-02T18:03:27Z")
> [@Dead Cat](#): > > Apparently, it was recently legalised in Germany, as I was reading today in Metro (a free UK national newspaper) about a case of a woman who was threatened with a cut in her unemployment benefit if she refused to accept a job as a prostitute. It seems to be true; see > > [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/30/wgerm30.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/30/ixworld.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/30/wgerm30.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/30/ixworld.html) > > for more details. NB: this is the website of a different UK newspaper (not free), as the Metro website didn’t have the story. Well, yes, and no. Yes, it is legal, no- there was no “case of a woman who was threatened with a cut in her unemployment benefit if she refused to accept a job as a prostitute.” In Germany some paper printed that this could be technically true. But the actuality of it seem to be an UL. See the thread in GD or check Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/28 "2005-02-03T07:01:03Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What’s the reason for this crackdown? Conservatives elected to the local (or national) governments? A shift in public morals? > > 😕 Dunno, really. One major factor may well be that the majority of 'tutes are foreigners (Chinese and Thai seem to be the majority), and the governors of Tokyo and Kanagawa (as well as the national police) have made no secret of their hostility toward foreigners\* of any profession. In any case, they don’t seem to be the least bit intent on touching the ‘legit’ shops, which are run by, employ and service\*\* Japanese. \*The gov. of Kanagawa once praised the Tokyo gov.'s ‘crime prevention’ initiatives, saying “the only downside is now the foreign rats have spread into Kanagawa.” When this comment was met with some outcry, he gave the interesting backpedal of “I didn’t mean all foreigners, only the ones here on work and student visas.” In other words, the ones that can’t vote. Charming individual. \*\*The sex clubs seem to maintain a pretty strict ‘Japanese only’ policy. I checked out the website of one and found the following assurance (in Japanese, naturally): “All the girls working here are guaranteed to be healthy; we strictly prohibit them from having contact with foreigners.” ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/29 "2005-02-03T07:05:20Z")
I should correct that last comment of mine. The Japanese sex clubs are ‘Japanese only’. The Chinese and Korean massage parlors on the other hand, as well as the Chinese and Thai women working the streets, keep the borders open to all comers. No matter what you look like, a walk through one of the downtown neighborhoods will get you propositioned at least a dozen times. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/30 "2005-02-03T11:55:57Z")
> [@Gaius.Cornelius](#): > > IANAL, but as I understand it, the situation in the UK is particularly interesting and peculiarly British. The UK has many laws that are very old and are regarded as having been quietly lapsed although technically they are still in force. Also, there is no written consitution that insists that all laws must be enforceable. All this leads to a certain _flexibility_. > > In general, in recent years authorities have used their powers to discourage steet walkers and their clients while tolerating other forms of prostitution provided they do not cause a public nusiance. As **owlstretchingtime** says, we get a strange combination of tolerance and harassment. However, there are exceptions such as the new scheme [in Liverpool](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4207391.stm). Is this really legal? I don’t think anybody is really sure. > > It is no wonder that we get quotes like this: “We are not proposing a tolerance zone, but an intolerance zone. We will allow prostitutes to work but we will be intolerant of prostitution.” We’re all over the place here. The law (IANAL too) is that prostitution itself is not illegal, however advertsising for the purposes of prostitution “soliciting” is illegal. That sounds simple enough doesn’t it? However what is actually cracked down on is scantily clad women walking in certain areas. Any local paper will have pages of adverts for “Massage” and “Escorts”, and this is tolerated, but illegal. There is also a rule about how many pros can work on a premisies before it becomes a disorderly house. Again this is almost never enforced. However - here’s a thing: If you phone a brothel (I have been told this by a policeman, not from personal experience), they will only say that they have two women available - to get around this law (no matter how many bints may be actually present). Our attitude to prostitution is similar to that on cannabis and other recreational drugs - a blind eye is turned to anything that happens in private. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/31 "2005-02-03T12:04:35Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > To add to that, in my state at least, the brothels have a maximum of 5 sex workers there at a time, and prostitutes can also work on their own (they can advertise on the internet and be listed under “escorts”, etc). Yeh the motel I used to work for used to allow out-calls only. If they thought someone was a prostitute and doing in-calls then they’d go through the paper and match up mobile numbers to the number on the suspected hookers check-in form. Of course, if that failed, they’d ring all of them whilst standing outside the hotel room door listening for the phone. I’d always thought hookers would be at least remotely attractive, that was until I worked in a hotel. ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/32 "2005-02-03T12:12:11Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > When you say “street prostitution” does that mean the windows like in Amsterdam or actual street-walkers? Street walkers. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/33 "2005-02-03T21:43:00Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > advertising the ways in which rocks can be gotten off. [grammar police] tsk…tsk…tsk That should read: “the ways off in which rocks can ge gotten”. [/grammar police] ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/34 "2005-02-03T23:47:49Z")
I do pedantry, but it’s an extra fifty bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611/35 "2005-02-04T00:09:01Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > I do pedantry, but it’s an extra fifty bucks. Ha ha ha, you’ve managed to give me, for the first time I might add, an impression of a prostitute that I might actually enjoy. 😃 (otherwise prostitution has always given me the feeling that it’d be like jerking off in a really big hand. And I think my hands are big enough as they are. 😃 ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-how-many-countries-in-the-world-is-prostitution-legal/287611.md?page=1)