Prostitution laws in GabonRépublique gabonaise
Gabon follows the French-derived abolitionist pattern. The Penal Code, rewritten by Law No. 006/2020 of 30 June 2020, has no offence of selling or buying sex between adults, but anyone who aids, protects or profits from another person's prostitution, recruits or keeps a person for it, or acts as intermediary commits procuring, punishable by up to ten years and a fine of up to 20 million CFA francs (Article 260). Public soliciting carries up to two years (Article 263), and publicly drawing attention to an occasion for debauchery or publishing an advertisement of that kind carries up to two years (Article 212). In September 2025 a Libreville court convicted the two organisers of a WhatsApp-based network of procuring and the 13 women involved of an offence against public morals. A bill tabled in October 2026 would raise the Article 212 penalties.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
The Penal Code (Law No. 006/2020) does not make selling or buying sex an offence as such, but criminalises procuring very broadly (Article 260), public soliciting (Article 263) and publicly drawing attention to an "occasion de débauche" (Article 212). In a 2025 Libreville case the women in an online network were convicted under the public-morals article, so in practice selling is not free of criminal risk.[1][2]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | No article makes selling sex as such an offence. Publicly soliciting persons of either sex, on the public highway or by gestures, words, writing or any other means, with a view to provoking debauchery is punishable by up to two years and a fine of up to 2 million francs (Article 263). Public-morals offences under Article 212 have also been applied to women selling sex.[1][2] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | No provision of the Penal Code penalises paying for sex with an adult. The procuring offence covers those who "remunerate" another person's prostitution only where they act as, or deal with, an intermediary, and the trafficking and child-protection offences apply in their own terms.[1] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | There is no separate brothel-keeping article in the 2020 code, but running a venue falls within procuring: knowingly aiding, assisting or protecting another person's prostitution, profiting from it, or keeping a person, even an adult and with consent, for prostitution is punishable by up to ten years and a fine of up to 20 million francs (Article 260).[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Procuring covers aiding, assisting or protecting another's prostitution or soliciting, profiting from or sharing its proceeds, recruiting, training or keeping a person even with consent, living with a person who habitually sells sex without sufficient means of one's own, and acting as intermediary. Penalty: up to ten years and 20 million francs; 15 years if a minor is involved or in an organised gang; 30 years with torture.[1][2] |
| Advertising sexual services | Illegal Criminal offence | Publicly drawing attention to an opportunity for debauchery, or publishing an advertisement or correspondence of that kind in whatever terms, is punishable by up to two years and/or a fine of up to 2 million francs (Article 212(3)). Soliciting "by writing or any other means" is also an offence (Article 263), and a platform or group organiser that helps another's prostitution can be charged with procuring (Article 260).[1][2] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
No article makes selling sex as such an offence. Publicly soliciting persons of either sex, on the public highway or by gestures, words, writing or any other means, with a view to provoking debauchery is punishable by up to two years and a fine of up to 2 million francs (Article 263). Public-morals offences under Article 212 have also been applied to women selling sex.[1][2]
Article 263: "Quiconque a, sur la voie publique, toute attitude de nature à provoquer à la débauche ou par gestes, paroles, écrits ou par tous autres moyens, procédé publiquement au racolage de personnes de l'un ou l'autre sexe, en vue de provoquer à la débauche, est puni d'un emprisonnement de deux ans au plus et d'une amende de 2.000.000 de francs au plus." In the case reported by L'Union in September 2025, 13 women recruited through WhatsApp groups received three-month suspended sentences for an offence against public morals.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
No provision of the Penal Code penalises paying for sex with an adult. The procuring offence covers those who "remunerate" another person's prostitution only where they act as, or deal with, an intermediary, and the trafficking and child-protection offences apply in their own terms.[1]
Confidence: medium. Read from the consolidated text on the Journal Officiel site; the absence of a client offence is inferred from the text, not from a court ruling.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
There is no separate brothel-keeping article in the 2020 code, but running a venue falls within procuring: knowingly aiding, assisting or protecting another person's prostitution, profiting from it, or keeping a person, even an adult and with consent, for prostitution is punishable by up to ten years and a fine of up to 20 million francs (Article 260).[1]
Confidence: medium. The pre-2019 code had a specific offence of financing or managing an establishment of prostitution; no equivalent article was found in the 2020 text, so the classification rests on Article 260.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Procuring covers aiding, assisting or protecting another's prostitution or soliciting, profiting from or sharing its proceeds, recruiting, training or keeping a person even with consent, living with a person who habitually sells sex without sufficient means of one's own, and acting as intermediary. Penalty: up to ten years and 20 million francs; 15 years if a minor is involved or in an organised gang; 30 years with torture.[1][2]
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
Publicly drawing attention to an opportunity for debauchery, or publishing an advertisement or correspondence of that kind in whatever terms, is punishable by up to two years and/or a fine of up to 2 million francs (Article 212(3)). Soliciting "by writing or any other means" is also an offence (Article 263), and a platform or group organiser that helps another's prostitution can be charged with procuring (Article 260).[1][2]
Article 212(3) punishes whoever has "attiré publiquement l'attention sur une occasion de débauche ou a publié une annonce ou une correspondance de ce genre, quels qu'en soient les termes". In the 2025 Libreville case the two men who ran WhatsApp groups (some with up to 13,000 members, according to L'Union) used to offer women were convicted of procuring and sentenced to 12 months, four of them to be served.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Loi n°006/2020 du 30 juin 2020 portant modification de la loi n°042/2018 du 05 juillet 2019 portant Code Pénal de la République Gabonaise Law No. 006/2020 of 30 June 2020 amending Law No. 042/2018 of 5 July 2019 on the Penal Code art. 212 · art. 225 · art. 260 · art. 263 | Replaces the 2019 Penal Code; contains the procuring, soliciting, public-morals and trafficking offences.[1] | 30 June 2020 |
| Loi N° 005/2021 du 06/09/2021 portant modification de certaines dispositions de la loi n°006/2020 du 30 juin 2020 portant Code Pénal de la République Gabonaise Law No. 005/2021 of 6 September 2021 amending certain provisions of Law No. 006/2020 on the Penal Code art. 261 | Amended the aggravating circumstances for sexual offences and offences against morals (Article 261); did not change the procuring or soliciting articles.[3] | 6 September 2021 |
Pending and under review
Proposed · updated 16 October 2026
Private member's bill amending Law No. 006/2020 (Article 212, offences against public morals)
Presented to the National Assembly's law commission in October 2026 by deputy Béni Ngoua Mbina. It would raise the maximum penalty for offences against public morals under Article 212, which also covers advertising occasions for debauchery, to five years and 10 million francs, and add offences for same-sex relations and their promotion or advertising. No vote had been reported.[4]
Timeline
- 5 July 2019Law No. 042/2018 adopts a new Penal Code, replacing the 1963 code.[1]
- 30 June 2020Law No. 006/2020 replaces the 2019 Penal Code, including the procuring (Article 260) and soliciting (Article 263) offences in their current form.[1]
- 6 September 2021Law No. 005/2021 amends the aggravating circumstances for sexual offences and offences against morals.[3]
- 1 September 2025The Libreville court of first instance convicts two organisers of a WhatsApp-based prostitution network of procuring and 13 women of an offence against public morals.[2]
- 13 October 2026A bill raising the penalties of Article 212 (public morals) and adding offences on same-sex relations is presented to the National Assembly's law commission.[4]
Sources
- Loi n°006/2020 du 30 juin 2020 portant modification de la loi n°042/2018 du 05 juillet 2019 portant Code Pénal de la République Gabonaise (Law No. 006/2020 of 30 June 2020 amending Law No. 042/2018 of 5 July 2019 on the Penal Code of the Gabonese Republic). Journal Officiel de la République Gabonaise, 30 June 2020. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Placement et proxénétisme : des peines de 12 et 3 mois pour les auteurs (Placement and procuring: sentences of 12 and 3 months for the perpetrators). L'Union (Sonapresse), 4 September 2025. news · accessed 30 October 2026
- Loi N° 005/2021 du 06/09/2021 portant modification de certaines dispositions de la loi n°006/2020 du 30 juin 2020 portant Code Pénal de la République Gabonaise (Law No. 005/2021 of 6 September 2021 amending certain provisions of the Penal Code). Journal Officiel de la République Gabonaise, 6 September 2021. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Code pénal & homosexualité : au Gabon, un député propose jusqu'à 10 millions de francs d'amende (Penal Code and homosexuality: in Gabon, a deputy proposes fines of up to 10 million francs). Gabonreview, 16 October 2026. news · accessed 30 October 2026