Prostitution Prostitution laws in ChadTchad
Chad's Penal Code (Law No. 001/PR/2017 of 8 May 2017, in force since 1 August 2017) does not make selling or buying sex an offence. Procuring is defined broadly: aiding, assisting or protecting another person's prostitution or soliciting, sharing in or receiving its proceeds, living with a sex worker without sufficient own resources, recruiting or keeping an adult for prostitution even with consent, or acting as an intermediary is punishable by six months to two years and a fine of CFAF 100,000 to 1,000,000 (Article 335), and by two to five years with aggravating factors (Article 336). The Code has no separate brothel-keeping offence. Exposing indecent posters or images in public places is a petty offence (Article 518).
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
The 2017 Penal Code contains no offence of selling or buying sex and no offence of soliciting by the sex worker; it punishes anyone who aids, assists or protects another person's prostitution or soliciting, shares in its proceeds, recruits or keeps a person for prostitution, or acts as an intermediary (Article 335). Secondary sources often describe prostitution in Chad as illegal; that is not what the Code says, and enforcement practice was not checked.[1]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Legal | No article of the 2017 Penal Code makes selling sex, or soliciting by the person selling, an offence. Prostitution appears only in the procuring offences (Articles 335–336), in the child-protection offence of letting a child live or work in a house where prostitution is practised (Article 364), and as forced prostitution in the crimes against humanity provisions.[1] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | No provision makes buying sex from an adult an offence. The Code has no general offence of adultery or of sex outside marriage; excitement or facilitation of the debauchery of a minor is punished separately (Article 363).[1] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | There is no specific brothel-keeping offence, but running a venue for others' prostitution would fall under the broad procuring offence: aiding, assisting or protecting another person's prostitution in any way, sharing in its proceeds, or keeping a person for prostitution (Article 335, six months to two years). Allowing a child under 18 to live or work in a house where prostitution is practised is punishable by 15 days to six months (Article 364).[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | A procurer, punishable by six months to two years and a fine of CFAF 100,000 to 1,000,000, is anyone who knowingly aids, assists or protects another's prostitution or soliciting; shares in its proceeds; lives with a sex worker without sufficient own resources; hires or keeps an adult for prostitution even with consent; or acts as an intermediary (Article 335). Minors, coercion, weapons, family or authority links and officials raise it to two to five years (Article 336).[1] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. Exposing posters or images contrary to decency in public places is a petty offence (fine of CFAF 2,000 to 20,000, up to 15 days; Article 518(15)). A third party who publishes or hosts a sex worker's offer could be charged with aiding or assisting prostitution or soliciting under Article 335; an advertisement placed by the sex worker for herself is not an offence as such.[1] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
No article of the 2017 Penal Code makes selling sex, or soliciting by the person selling, an offence. Prostitution appears only in the procuring offences (Articles 335–336), in the child-protection offence of letting a child live or work in a house where prostitution is practised (Article 364), and as forced prostitution in the crimes against humanity provisions.[1]
Confidence: medium. Read in the droit-afrique.com consolidation of the Code hosted by FAOLEX (not the Official Journal); a full-text search found no other prostitution provision. Other laws, local regulations and police practice (e.g. arrests for public-order or vagrancy reasons) were not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
No provision makes buying sex from an adult an offence. The Code has no general offence of adultery or of sex outside marriage; excitement or facilitation of the debauchery of a minor is punished separately (Article 363).[1]
Confidence: medium. Inferred from a full-text search of an unofficial consolidation; the term adultery appears only as a mitigating excuse for violence, not as an offence.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
There is no specific brothel-keeping offence, but running a venue for others' prostitution would fall under the broad procuring offence: aiding, assisting or protecting another person's prostitution in any way, sharing in its proceeds, or keeping a person for prostitution (Article 335, six months to two years). Allowing a child under 18 to live or work in a house where prostitution is practised is punishable by 15 days to six months (Article 364).[1]
Confidence: medium. Classification inferred from the wording of Article 335; no case law was found.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
A procurer, punishable by six months to two years and a fine of CFAF 100,000 to 1,000,000, is anyone who knowingly aids, assists or protects another's prostitution or soliciting; shares in its proceeds; lives with a sex worker without sufficient own resources; hires or keeps an adult for prostitution even with consent; or acts as an intermediary (Article 335). Minors, coercion, weapons, family or authority links and officials raise it to two to five years (Article 336).[1]
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. Exposing posters or images contrary to decency in public places is a petty offence (fine of CFAF 2,000 to 20,000, up to 15 days; Article 518(15)). A third party who publishes or hosts a sex worker's offer could be charged with aiding or assisting prostitution or soliciting under Article 335; an advertisement placed by the sex worker for herself is not an offence as such.[1]
Confidence: low. Inferred from general provisions; no case law found. Chad's cybercrime and electronic communications laws were not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Tchad – Code pénal 2017 (Loi n° 001/PR/2017 du 8 mai 2017 portant Code pénal) Law No. 001/PR/2017 of 8 May 2017 on the Penal Code arts 335–336 · arts 363–364 · art. 518 | Defines procuring broadly and punishes it with aggravations (arts 335–336); protects children from debauchery and from living or working in places of prostitution (arts 363–364); petty offence of indecent public posters (art. 518(15)).[1] | 1 August 2017 |
Timeline
- 8 May 2017Law No. 001/PR/2017 on the Penal Code is promulgated, repealing earlier contrary provisions (art. 522); it enters into force on the first day of the third month after promulgation (art. 521).[1]
Sources
- Tchad – Code pénal 2017 (Loi n° 001/PR/2017 du 8 mai 2017 portant Code pénal) (Chad – Penal Code 2017 (Law No. 001/PR/2017 of 8 May 2017)). droit-afrique.com, hosted by FAO (FAOLEX), 8 May 2017. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026