Prostitution laws in FinlandSuomi / Finland
In Finland adults may sell and buy sex in private. The Public Order Act prohibits buying sexual services and offering them for payment in a public place, sanctioned with a petty fine. Since 2006 it has been an offence to buy sex from a person who is the victim of procuring or trafficking, including where the buyer had reason to suspect it. Procuring (paritus) for financial gain, which includes arranging a room for paid sex and marketing someone's services by passing on contact details, carries up to three years, and aggravated procuring up to six. Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code was renumbered by the sexual offences reform in force on 1 January 2023.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
Selling and buying sex between adults in private are legal, while procuring, including arranging premises and marketing someone's services for gain, is criminal. Two features make Finland a partial case: buying from a victim of procuring or trafficking has been an offence since 2006, and both buying and offering paid sex in a public place are prohibited under the Public Order Act.[1][2][3]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Selling sex is legal in private. Offering sexual services for payment in a public place is prohibited by the Public Order Act and sanctioned with a petty fine (rikesakko).[2] |
| Buying sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Buying sex from an adult is legal in private, but an offence in a public place (petty fine) and an offence if the seller is a victim of procuring or trafficking (fine or up to six months), including where the buyer had reason to suspect this. Paying for a sexual act with someone under 18 carries up to two years.[1][2][4] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Arranging a room or other space for paid sex in order to obtain financial benefit is procuring, punishable by a fine or up to three years. Accommodating a person who sells sex as an established part of one's business, and thereby substantially promoting it, is also covered.[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Procuring for financial gain, by arranging premises, accommodating as part of a business, marketing, otherwise exploiting or enticing someone into selling sex, carries a fine or up to three years. Aggravated procuring, for example for considerable financial gain or in a particularly methodical way, carries four months to six years.[1] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | A sex worker advertising their own services is not a specific offence. A third party who, to obtain financial benefit, markets someone's paid sex by passing on contact details or otherwise, knowing that this substantially promotes it, commits procuring.[1] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sex is legal in private. Offering sexual services for payment in a public place is prohibited by the Public Order Act and sanctioned with a petty fine (rikesakko).[2]
A petty fine is the lightest penal sanction in Finnish law and is imposed by the police under the Act on Petty Fine Offences (986/2016).
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Buying sex from an adult is legal in private, but an offence in a public place (petty fine) and an offence if the seller is a victim of procuring or trafficking (fine or up to six months), including where the buyer had reason to suspect this. Paying for a sexual act with someone under 18 carries up to two years.[1][2][4]
The offence of exploiting a person subject to sex trade (seksikaupan kohteena olevan henkilön hyväksikäyttö) in chapter 20, section 8 of the Criminal Code covers payment that induces a victim of procuring, aggravated procuring, trafficking or aggravated trafficking to engage in sexual intercourse or a comparable act. Section 9 covers offering payment for a sexual act with a person under 18. Both were renumbered by Act 723/2022.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Arranging a room or other space for paid sex in order to obtain financial benefit is procuring, punishable by a fine or up to three years. Accommodating a person who sells sex as an established part of one's business, and thereby substantially promoting it, is also covered.[1]
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Procuring for financial gain, by arranging premises, accommodating as part of a business, marketing, otherwise exploiting or enticing someone into selling sex, carries a fine or up to three years. Aggravated procuring, for example for considerable financial gain or in a particularly methodical way, carries four months to six years.[1]
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
A sex worker advertising their own services is not a specific offence. A third party who, to obtain financial benefit, markets someone's paid sex by passing on contact details or otherwise, knowing that this substantially promotes it, commits procuring.[1]
Chapter 20, section 10(1) item 3 of the Criminal Code is the provision most relevant to paid advertising and contact platforms; it requires both the aim of financial benefit and knowledge that the activity substantially promotes the paid sexual act.
Confidence: medium. The procuring provision was verified. That no separate advertising ban applies to sex workers themselves is based on our reading of the Criminal Code and the Public Order Act; we did not review case law on ad platforms.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Rikoslaki 39/1889 (ajantasainen) Criminal Code (39/1889), chapter 20 on sexual offences 20:8 · 20:9 · 20:10 · 20:11 | Sections 8 and 9 (buying from victims of procuring or trafficking, and from under-18s) and sections 10 and 11 (procuring and aggravated procuring).[1] | |
| Järjestyslaki 612/2003 (ajantasainen) Public Order Act (612/2003) § 7 · § 16 | Prohibits buying sexual services and offering them for payment in a public place; violations are petty fine offences.[2] | |
| Laki rikoslain 1 ja 20 luvun muuttamisesta 743/2006 Act 743/2006 amending chapters 1 and 20 of the Criminal Code | Introduced the offence of exploiting a person subject to sex trade, i.e. buying from a victim of procuring or trafficking.[3] | 1 October 2006 |
| Laki rikoslain muuttamisesta 723/2022 Act 723/2022 amending the Criminal Code (sexual offences reform) | Rewrote chapter 20 and renumbered the purchase and procuring offences as sections 8 to 11.[4] | 1 January 2023 |
Timeline
Sources
- Rikoslaki 39/1889 (ajantasainen) (Criminal Code (consolidated)). Finlex (oikeusministeriö). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Järjestyslaki 612/2003 (ajantasainen) (Public Order Act (consolidated)). Finlex (oikeusministeriö). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Laki rikoslain 1 ja 20 luvun muuttamisesta 743/2006 (Act amending chapters 1 and 20 of the Criminal Code). Finlex (oikeusministeriö), 25 August 2006. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Laki rikoslain muuttamisesta 723/2022 (Act amending the Criminal Code). Finlex (oikeusministeriö), 8 July 2022. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026