Prostitution Prostitution laws in DominicaCommonwealth of Dominica
In Dominica, selling and buying sex in private are not offences, but the Sexual Offences Act 1998 penalises the activities around them. Procuring another person for prostitution or to become an inmate of a brothel carries fourteen years. Keeping or managing a brothel, or letting or permitting premises to be used as one, carries a $5,000 fine and five years on summary conviction; knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution or soliciting 'in any place' for immoral purposes carries the same; controlling a sex worker's movements for gain carries five years. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2016 left these provisions unchanged. No offence aimed specifically at advertising sexual services was found.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
Exchanging sex for money in private is not an offence, but the Sexual Offences Act 1998 (Act No. 1 of 1998) criminalises procuring a person for prostitution (s. 18), brothel-keeping (s. 24), living on the earnings of prostitution and soliciting for immoral purposes 'in any place' (s. 25), and controlling a sex worker for gain (s. 26). The 2016 amendment did not change these sections.[1][2]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Selling sex in private is not an offence. A person who 'in any place solicits for immoral purposes' is liable on summary conviction to a $5,000 fine and five years.[1] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | No provision making it an offence to pay an adult for sex was found in the Sexual Offences Act 1998 or its 2016 amendment. The soliciting offence in s. 25(1)(b) is not limited to sellers.[1][2] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Keeping, managing, or acting or assisting in the management of a brothel; a tenant or occupier knowingly permitting premises to be used as a brothel or for prostitution; and a landlord letting premises knowing they will be so used carry a $5,000 fine and five years on summary conviction.[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Procuring another for prostitution, whether or not that person is already a sex worker, or to become an inmate of a brothel, carries fourteen years. Knowingly living wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution carries a $5,000 fine and five years, with a presumption against anyone who lives with or controls a sex worker; controlling a sex worker's movements for gain carries five years.[1] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted | No offence aimed specifically at advertising sexual services was found. The soliciting offence in s. 25(1)(b) applies 'in any place', and a third party who profits from advertising others could face the living-on-earnings offence.[1] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sex in private is not an offence. A person who 'in any place solicits for immoral purposes' is liable on summary conviction to a $5,000 fine and five years.[1]
Confidence: medium. The official PDF of the 1998 Act is a scan; its text was read by OCR. The Small Offences Act (Chap. 10:39) was not checked, and how courts read 'immoral purposes' was not researched.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
No provision making it an offence to pay an adult for sex was found in the Sexual Offences Act 1998 or its 2016 amendment. The soliciting offence in s. 25(1)(b) is not limited to sellers.[1][2]
Confidence: medium. The official PDF of the 1998 Act is a scan; its text was read by OCR.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Keeping, managing, or acting or assisting in the management of a brothel; a tenant or occupier knowingly permitting premises to be used as a brothel or for prostitution; and a landlord letting premises knowing they will be so used carry a $5,000 fine and five years on summary conviction.[1]
Confidence: medium. The official PDF of the 1998 Act is a scan; its text was read by OCR.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Procuring another for prostitution, whether or not that person is already a sex worker, or to become an inmate of a brothel, carries fourteen years. Knowingly living wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution carries a $5,000 fine and five years, with a presumption against anyone who lives with or controls a sex worker; controlling a sex worker's movements for gain carries five years.[1]
Confidence: medium. The official PDF of the 1998 Act is a scan; its text was read by OCR. The fourteen-year maximum for s. 18(c)-(d) is read from the penalty list at the end of s. 18.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No offence aimed specifically at advertising sexual services was found. The soliciting offence in s. 25(1)(b) applies 'in any place', and a third party who profits from advertising others could face the living-on-earnings offence.[1]
Confidence: low. Inference from the absence of a specific provision in the acts reviewed; electronic-communications, obscenity and trafficking laws were not reviewed for platform liability.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Sexual Offences Act 1998 (Act No. 1 of 1998) Sexual Offences Act 1998 (Act No. 1 of 1998) s. 18 · s. 24 · s. 25 · s. 26 | Procuration (s. 18), suppression of brothels (s. 24), living on earnings and soliciting (s. 25) and aiding prostitution for gain (s. 26).[1] | |
| Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2016 (Act No. 9 of 2016) Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2016 (Act No. 9 of 2016) | Amends the 1998 Act (rape, grooming, child offences); it does not amend the prostitution and brothel provisions in ss. 18 and 24-26.[2] |
Timeline
- 24 November 2016Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2016 gazetted; it revises rape and child-protection provisions but leaves the prostitution and brothel sections of the 1998 Act unchanged.[2]
Sources
- Sexual Offences Act 1998 (Act No. 1 of 1998). Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2016 (Act No. 9 of 2016). Commonwealth of Dominica (copy hosted by the ECLAC Gender Equality Observatory), 24 November 2016. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026