Prostitution laws in CyprusΚύπρος / Kıbrıs
In the Republic of Cyprus prostitution itself is not regulated or prohibited. The Criminal Code (Cap. 154) makes it a misdemeanour to keep or help manage a brothel or knowingly let premises for one (s. 156), to procure a woman into prostitution (s. 157, up to five years), and to knowingly live on the earnings of prostitution or persistently solicit in a public place (s. 164, up to five years). Law 60(I)/2014 on trafficking and exploitation, amended in 2019, punishes anyone who requests, receives or uses the services of a victim of sexual exploitation with up to ten years or €50,000 (s. 17A). A 2020 opposition bill to criminalise buying has not been adopted. The law of the Republic is not applied in the northern part of the island.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
Selling and buying sexual services between adults are not offences, but keeping or letting premises for a brothel, procuring and living on the earnings of prostitution are crimes under the colonial-era Criminal Code (Cap. 154), and persistent public soliciting is an offence. Since 2019 the anti-trafficking law also punishes anyone who uses the services of a victim of sexual exploitation. The European Parliament's 2021 comparative study classifies Cyprus as 'legal but unregulated'.[1][2][3]
Regional differences
- Area not under the effective control of the Republic (north): The Criminal Code and anti-trafficking law of the Republic are not applied in the north. The US State Department reports that nightclubs there are licensed by Turkish Cypriot authorities, that women working in them enter on 'hostess' visas, and that observers describe the clubs as functioning as brothels. The 2025 report counted 27 nightclubs employing 98 women as of March 2025. Low confidence: the report page could not be opened (HTTP 403); content and URL were confirmed through search results only, and no Turkish Cypriot legal text was reviewed.[4]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Selling sexual services as an adult is not an offence and is not regulated. The only provision aimed at sex workers themselves is the offence of persistently soliciting clients, or importuning any person for immoral purposes, in a public place (Cap. 154 s. 164(1)(b), misdemeanour, up to five years).[1][3] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | Buying sex from an adult is not an offence. Since 2019 anyone who requests, receives or uses the work or services of a victim that are the object of sexual exploitation commits an offence punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment or a fine of up to €50,000 (Law 60(I)/2014 s. 17A).[2] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Keeping, managing or assisting in the management of a brothel, a tenant or occupier knowingly allowing premises to be used as a brothel or for habitual prostitution, and a landlord knowingly letting premises for that use are misdemeanours (Cap. 154 s. 156), punishable by up to two years or a fine under the general rule in s. 35. A landlord may end the lease after a tenant's conviction.[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Procuring a woman into common prostitution or to become an inmate of a brothel is punishable by up to five years (s. 157). Knowingly living wholly or partly on the earnings of prostitution is punishable by up to five years (s. 164(1)(a)), with a presumption against anyone who lives with or controls a sex worker; s. 165 covers women who control another woman's prostitution for gain.[1][2] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted | No offence specific to advertising adult sexual services was found in Cap. 154 or Law 60(I)/2014. Self-advertising is not addressed. A publisher or website knowingly taking a share of sex workers' earnings could fall under the living-on-earnings offence (s. 164(1)(a)), and organising or directing a person into prostitution counts as 'sexual exploitation' under Law 60(I)/2014.[1][2] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sexual services as an adult is not an offence and is not regulated. The only provision aimed at sex workers themselves is the offence of persistently soliciting clients, or importuning any person for immoral purposes, in a public place (Cap. 154 s. 164(1)(b), misdemeanour, up to five years).[1][3]
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Buying sex from an adult is not an offence. Since 2019 anyone who requests, receives or uses the work or services of a victim that are the object of sexual exploitation commits an offence punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment or a fine of up to €50,000 (Law 60(I)/2014 s. 17A).[2]
Section 17A was inserted by Law 117(I)/2019. Unlike the general provision in s. 17 ('whoever can reasonably assume' that the services are the object of an offence), s. 17A contains no express knowledge requirement. 'Sexual exploitation' is defined broadly in s. 2 and includes introducing, pushing, recruiting, organising or directing a person into prostitution, so the provision can reach clients of anyone whose prostitution is organised by a third party. A 2020 bill to criminalise all purchases was not adopted (see pending).
Note. No case law was reviewed on whether courts read a knowledge requirement into s. 17A.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Keeping, managing or assisting in the management of a brothel, a tenant or occupier knowingly allowing premises to be used as a brothel or for habitual prostitution, and a landlord knowingly letting premises for that use are misdemeanours (Cap. 154 s. 156), punishable by up to two years or a fine under the general rule in s. 35. A landlord may end the lease after a tenant's conviction.[1]
Note. Whether two sex workers sharing a flat count as a 'brothel' depends on the common-law definition, which was not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Procuring a woman into common prostitution or to become an inmate of a brothel is punishable by up to five years (s. 157). Knowingly living wholly or partly on the earnings of prostitution is punishable by up to five years (s. 164(1)(a)), with a presumption against anyone who lives with or controls a sex worker; s. 165 covers women who control another woman's prostitution for gain.[1][2]
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No offence specific to advertising adult sexual services was found in Cap. 154 or Law 60(I)/2014. Self-advertising is not addressed. A publisher or website knowingly taking a share of sex workers' earnings could fall under the living-on-earnings offence (s. 164(1)(a)), and organising or directing a person into prostitution counts as 'sexual exploitation' under Law 60(I)/2014.[1][2]
No platform-specific legislation was identified; hosting services are subject to the EU Digital Services Act notice-and-action regime.
Confidence: low. Absence of an advertising offence is inferred from the texts reviewed; application of s. 164 to advertising sites is untested as far as found.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Ο περί Ποινικού Κώδικα Νόμος – ΚΕΦ.154 Criminal Code, Cap. 154 ss. 156–158, 164, 165 | Brothel keeping, procuring, living on earnings and persistent soliciting offences.[1] | |
| Ο περί της Πρόληψης και της Καταπολέμησης της Εμπορίας και Εκμετάλλευσης Προσώπων και της Προστασίας των Θυμάτων Νόμος του 2014 – 60(I)/2014 Law 60(I)/2014 on the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons and the Protection of Victims ss. 2, 9, 17, 17A | Trafficking for sexual exploitation (s. 9) and, since Law 117(I)/2019, the offence of using services of a victim of sexual exploitation (s. 17A). Last amended by Law 52(I)/2026.[2] |
Pending and under review
Stalled · updated November 2020
AKEL bill to criminalise the purchase of sexual services
In July 2020 the AKEL parliamentary group tabled a law proposal, modelled on the Nordic approach, to criminalise buying sexual services. No record was found of it being adopted; its status after the 2021 and 2026 parliamentary elections was not verified.[5]
In parliament · updated 25 October 2026
Government bill repealing a Criminal Code provision describing dancers as 'prostitutes'
In October 2026 the government tabled an amending bill to repeal what it called an anachronistic Criminal Code provision that labelled dancers as 'prostitutes', following an application to the European Court of Human Rights. This most likely concerns s. 97 of Cap. 154, which defines 'dancer' as 'a female prostitute or a woman who dances or sings for payment at a Muslim festival'; the news report does not give the section number.[1][6]
Timeline
Sources
- Ο περί Ποινικού Κώδικα Νόμος – ΚΕΦ.154 (Criminal Code, Cap. 154 (consolidated)). CyLaw (Cyprus Bar Association). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Ο περί της Πρόληψης και της Καταπολέμησης της Εμπορίας και Εκμετάλλευσης Προσώπων και της Προστασίας των Θυμάτων Νόμος του 2014 – 60(I)/2014 (Law 60(I)/2014 on the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons and the Protection of Victims (consolidated, incl. 117(I)/2019 and 52(I)/2026)). CyLaw (Cyprus Bar Association), 2014. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- The differing EU Member States' regulations on prostitution and their cross-border implications on women's rights. European Parliament, Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, September 2021. parliament · accessed 30 October 2026
- 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report: Cyprus. US Department of State, 2025. government · accessed 30 October 2026
- Σεξεργασία ως Εργασία: Ενάντια στην Πρόταση Νόμου για Ποινικοποίηση Αγοράς Σεξουαλικών Υπηρεσιών (Sex work as work: against the law proposal to criminalise the purchase of sexual services). Cyprus Movements Archive (Συσπείρωση Ατάκτων), 12 November 2020. ngo · accessed 30 October 2026
- Ξηλώνουν νόμο που βάφτιζε «πόρνες» τις χορεύτριες (Law that branded dancers 'prostitutes' to be scrapped). CyprusNews.eu, 25 October 2026. news · accessed 30 October 2026