Prostitution laws in Argentina
Argentina follows an abolitionist model. Law 12.331 of 1936 prohibits establishing houses or premises where prostitution is practised or incited, and punishes those who keep, administer or run them. Since Law 26.842 of 2012 the Penal Code punishes whoever promotes or facilitates the prostitution of a person, and whoever economically exploits it, with four to six years even if the person consents, and five to ten with deception, violence, abuse or other aggravating circumstances. Decree 936 of 2011 prohibits, by any medium, advertisements that promote sexual offers or seek people for the sex trade, enforced by a monitoring office in the Ministry of Justice. Selling and buying are not federal crimes, but local codes regulate public soliciting: in the City of Buenos Aires, ostensibly offering or seeking sexual services in unauthorised public spaces is a contravention.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
Selling and buying sex between adults are not federal offences, but brothels have been banned nationwide since the 1936 venereal disease law (Law 12.331), and the Penal Code punishes promoting or facilitating another person's prostitution and economically exploiting it even with the person's consent (arts. 125 bis and 127, as amended in 2012). A 2011 decree bans advertisements offering sexual services. Local contravention codes add rules on soliciting in public space.[1][2][3]
Regional differences
- Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Legal, organisation banned: The Contravention Code (Law 1472, as amended up to Law 6839 of 2025) punishes ostensibly offering or seeking sexual services in public spaces that are not authorised, or outside authorised conditions, with one to five days' community work or a fine (art. 97); until zones are authorised, this is barred in front of or within 200 metres of homes, schools and places of worship. It also punishes distributing or posting leaflets and posters promoting the sexual offer in establishments with 5 to 30 days' arrest (art. 96). Appearance, clothing or manner can never ground the contravention.[4]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: administrative offence | Selling sex is not a federal offence. Provincial and city contravention codes may sanction public soliciting; in Buenos Aires City, ostensibly offering sexual services in unauthorised public spaces carries one to five days' community work or a fine.[2][4] |
| Buying sexual services | Restricted Breach: administrative offence | Paying an adult for sex is not a federal offence. The Buenos Aires City code applies its public-space contravention to whoever ostensibly "demands" sexual services as well as to whoever offers them.[2][4] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Law 12.331 prohibits throughout the Republic the establishment of houses or premises where prostitution is practised or incited (art. 15). Those who keep, administer or run such houses, openly or covertly, are fined and, on a repeat offence, imprisoned for one to three years without suspension (art. 17).[1][2] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Promoting or facilitating the prostitution of a person carries four to six years, even with the person's consent; economically exploiting the exercise of another person's prostitution carries the same, also regardless of consent. Both rise to five to ten years with deception, violence, threats, abuse of a position of vulnerability or other aggravating circumstances, and ten to fifteen if the victim is under 18.[2] |
| Advertising sexual services | Illegal Administrative offence | Decree 936 of 2011 prohibits, nationwide and by any medium, advertisements that promote the sexual offer or refer explicitly or implicitly to seeking people for the sex trade, including ads for lawful activities that are a disguise for these. A monitoring office in the Ministry of Justice checks print media and imposes or requests sanctions; the government's plain-language guide tells the public such ads are prohibited and can be reported.[3][4][5][6] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sex is not a federal offence. Provincial and city contravention codes may sanction public soliciting; in Buenos Aires City, ostensibly offering sexual services in unauthorised public spaces carries one to five days' community work or a fine.[2][4]
Note. Only the Buenos Aires City code was checked; provincial and municipal codes differ.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Paying an adult for sex is not a federal offence. The Buenos Aires City code applies its public-space contravention to whoever ostensibly "demands" sexual services as well as to whoever offers them.[2][4]
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Law 12.331 prohibits throughout the Republic the establishment of houses or premises where prostitution is practised or incited (art. 15). Those who keep, administer or run such houses, openly or covertly, are fined and, on a repeat offence, imprisoned for one to three years without suspension (art. 17).[1][2]
The fine in article 17 is expressed in the 1936 currency (1,000 pesos moneda nacional). Managing a venue where others sell sex will usually also meet the Penal Code offences of facilitating or economically exploiting prostitution.
Confidence: medium. The InfoLEG text consulted reproduces the original 1936 wording; whether and how later amendments (such as Decree-Law 10.638 of 1944) changed articles 15 and 17 was not traced.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Promoting or facilitating the prostitution of a person carries four to six years, even with the person's consent; economically exploiting the exercise of another person's prostitution carries the same, also regardless of consent. Both rise to five to ten years with deception, violence, threats, abuse of a position of vulnerability or other aggravating circumstances, and ten to fifteen if the victim is under 18.[2]
Law 26.842 of 2012 gave articles 125 bis, 126 and 127 their current wording; article 125 bis ends "aunque mediare el consentimiento de la víctima".
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
Decree 936 of 2011 prohibits, nationwide and by any medium, advertisements that promote the sexual offer or refer explicitly or implicitly to seeking people for the sex trade, including ads for lawful activities that are a disguise for these. A monitoring office in the Ministry of Justice checks print media and imposes or requests sanctions; the government's plain-language guide tells the public such ads are prohibited and can be reported.[3][4][5][6]
Article 4 of the decree sets the procedure: a record of the infringement, an order to withdraw the ad within 24 hours, then five working days for a defence before a decision. Resolution 1180/2011 of the Ministry of Justice and Resolution 14/2011 of the Secretariat of Public Communication set the sanctions, which according to secondary sources rise to fines of up to 300 times the price of the ad for repeated serious breaches. The decree's stated purpose is to prevent trafficking for sexual exploitation; it is directed at the media publishing the ads rather than at the people advertised. In Buenos Aires City, distributing leaflets or posters promoting the sexual offer in establishments is separately a contravention (art. 96).
Confidence: medium. The sanction scales in Resolutions 1180/2011 and 14/2011 were not read in the original. Whether the monitoring office is still active in 2026 could not be confirmed.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Ley 12.331, Profilaxis de las enfermedades venéreas Law 12.331 on the prevention of venereal diseases (1936) arts. 15, 17 | Prohibits brothels nationwide and punishes those who keep or run them.[1] | |
| Código Penal de la Nación Argentina, Ley 11.179 (T.O. 1984 actualizado) Penal Code of the Nation (Law 11.179, consolidated text), as amended by Law 26.842 of 2012 arts. 125 bis, 126, 127 | Criminalises promoting, facilitating and economically exploiting prostitution regardless of consent.[2] | |
| Decreto 936/2011, Protección integral a las mujeres: erradicación de difusión de mensajes e imágenes sobre explotación sexual Decree 936/2011 on eradicating messages and images that encourage sexual exploitation arts. 1-5 | Bans advertisements offering sexual services in any medium and creates the monitoring office.[3] |
Timeline
- 17 December 1936Congress passes Law 12.331, which bans brothels throughout the country; it is published on 11 January 1937.[1]
- 6 July 2011Decree 936/2011 banning sexual-offer advertisements is published in the Official Gazette.[5]
- 27 December 2012Law 26.842 is published, rewriting the Penal Code's prostitution offences so that consent does not exclude liability.[2]
- 20 October 2025Law 6839 amending the Buenos Aires City Contravention Code is published; the consolidated code keeps the public-space and leaflet contraventions (arts. 96-97).[4]
Sources
- Ley 12.331, Profilaxis de las enfermedades venéreas (Law 12.331 on the prevention of venereal diseases). InfoLEG, Ministerio de Justicia de la Nación, 11 January 1937. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Código Penal de la Nación Argentina, Ley 11.179 (T.O. 1984 actualizado) (Penal Code of the Argentine Nation, Law 11.179 (consolidated text)). InfoLEG, Ministerio de Justicia de la Nación. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Decreto 936/2011, Protección integral a las mujeres: erradicación de difusión de mensajes e imágenes sobre explotación sexual (Decree 936/2011 on comprehensive protection of women: eradicating messages and images on sexual exploitation). InfoLEG, Ministerio de Justicia de la Nación, 6 July 2011. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Ley P - N° 1.472, Código Contravencional de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (texto actualizado a la Ley 6839) (Law 1.472, Contravention Code of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (text updated to Law 6839)). Boletín Oficial de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Decreto 936/2011: ficha de la norma (Decree 936/2011: record page). InfoLEG, Ministerio de Justicia de la Nación. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Ley simple: Trata de personas (Plain-language law guide: trafficking in persons). Ministerio de Justicia de la Nación (Derecho Fácil). government · accessed 30 October 2026