EU Sex Work Legal Guide

Sex work is fully legal and regulated under the Prostitution Act (ProstG) 2002, reformed by the Prostitutes Protection Act (ProstSchG) 2017.

The Netherlands lifted the brothel ban in 2000. Sex work is fully legal and municipally regulated, with Amsterdam's Red Light District being the most well-known example.

Belgium became the first country in the world to fully decriminalize sex work in 2022, granting workers full labour rights under the Social Penal Code.

Sex work has been legal in Austria since 1975. It is regulated at the federal and state (Bundesland) level with mandatory health checks and registration.

Sex work is legal and regulated in Greece. Workers must register and carry a health book with regular STI checks.

Sex work is legal at the federal level in Switzerland. Cantons and municipalities regulate it individually. Most cantons require registration.

Selling sex is legal in Denmark, and buying is not criminalized. However, third-party management and advertising may be restricted.

Selling sex is not criminalized in Spain, but it is not regulated either. Soliciting in public spaces is penalized under the Citizens Security Law.

Selling sex is not criminalized in Italy. However, the Merlin Law (1958) closed all brothels and criminalized activities related to profiting from others' sex work.

Sex work is decriminalized in Portugal since 2003. The act of selling sex is not illegal, but exploitation, trafficking, and procuring are criminal offences.

Sex work is not criminalized in the Czech Republic, but it is also not formally regulated. There is no specific law governing it.

Sex work is legal in designated 'tolerance zones' in Hungary. Outside these zones, soliciting is penalized.

The act of selling sex is legal in the UK. However, many surrounding activities are criminalized: street soliciting, kerb crawling, running a brothel, and pimping.

France adopted the Nordic model in 2016. Selling sex is decriminalized but buying sex is criminalized with fines up to €3,750.

Sweden pioneered the Nordic model in 1999 (the 'Swedish Model'). Purchasing sex is a criminal offence; selling is not.

Norway adopted the Nordic model in 2009. Buying sex is a criminal offence with fines or up to six months in prison.

Ireland adopted the Nordic model in 2017 under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act. Buying sex is criminalized.

Finland partially adopted the Nordic model in 2006: buying sex from trafficking victims is criminalized, but buying from consenting adults is not.