Decriminalization – no criminal penalties for prostitution
Legalization – prostitution legal and regulated
Abolitionism – prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated
Neo-abolitionism illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex
Prohibitionism – prostitution illegal
Legality varies with local laws
Prostitution portal
Sex work portal
The legality of prostitution in Asia varies by country. There is often a significant difference in Asia between prostitution laws and the practice of prostitution. In 2011, the Asian Commission on AIDS estimated there were 10 million sex workers in Asia and 75 million male customers.[1]
Child prostitution is a serious problem in this region. Past surveys indicate that 30 to 35 percent of all prostitutes in the Mekong sub-region of Southeast Asia are between 12 and 17 years of age.[2]
The World Health Organization has called for the decriminalisation of sex work as a means of combating HIV/AIDS. The Asian region has the lowest incidence (5.2%).[3]
This page uses the UN system of subregions.
^Perera, Melani Manel (10 July 2011). "Sri Lanka in alarm: the number of Aids cases increases". Asia News. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
^"Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Deena Guzder, "UNICEF: Protecting Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation"". Pulitzercenter.typepad.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
^"La OMS defiende la despenalización de la prostitución para reducir los contagios de VIH". ABC.es (in Spanish). 12 December 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
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