In certain corners of the world FSSWers are forced to operate in the shadows, walking the line between doing their jobs and bearing the brunt of punitive measures for it. In a surprising amount of places — especially to someone coming from the puritanical U.S. — laws banning sex work have been changed to reflect shifting public perception about the importance and permanence of the SW industry.
By our estimation the number of countries and territories that have in at least in one form or another legalized FSSW is 132. Some of these countries, like Cuba, had never banned the practice. Others, including the United States and Colombia, have created specific “tolerance zones” where FSSW is legal while maintaining strict anti-sex works laws outside of those districts. Some places, including Germany, Tunisia and Switzerland, have systems where SW activity is overseen by regulatory bodies. And a surprising amount of countries have shifted towards full legalization of FSSW across their lands, adding up to a marked number of at least seemingly SW-tolerant locales.
Groups like Amnesty International support decriminalization, though theirs are not by any means guidelines that everyone seems happy with. Regardless, many countries are taking a more realistic approach to SW and countering moral panic with reality. The laws governing FSSW in these places vary wildly in effectiveness and restrictiveness, but to some degree or another these locales seem to at least be giving legal SW a shot:
Regulated FSSW Markets
- Eritrea
- Tunisia
- Senegal
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Dutch Caribbean
- Ecuador
- Turkey
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Austria
- Germany
- The Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Australia
- Norfolk Island
- Easter Island
FSSW Limited to Specific Locations
- Kenya
- Nigeria
- Argentina
- Colombia (regulated)
- United States
- Mexico
- Taiwan
- Indonesia
No Laws on the Books About FSSW
- Cape Verde
- Guinea-Bissau
- Pitcairn Islands
- Tokelau
- Tuvalu
Legal FSSW Markets
- Central African Republic
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Ethiopia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Reunion
- South Sudan
- Zambia
- Algeria
- Botswana
- Lesotho
- Namibia
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Ivory Coast
- Mali
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Brazil
- Costa Rica
- Cuba Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- Guadeloupe
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Bermuda
- Canada
- Guatemala
- Falkland Islands
- Paraguay
- Anguilla
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Martinique
- Montserrat
- Kyrgystan
- Tajikistan
- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Bangladesh
- India
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- East Timor
- Cyprus
- Israel
- Lebanon
- Bulgaria
- Czech Republic
- Kazakhstan
- Poland
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Norway
- Sweden
- The U.K.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Greece
- Italy
- Malta
- Portugal
- Macedonia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Beligum
- France
- Luxembourg
- Monaco
- New Zealand
- Fiji
- New Caledonia
- Solomon Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Kiribati
- Nauru
- Cook Islands
- French Polynesia
- Niue
- Tonga
- Wallis and Futuna
