Prostitution laws in Guyana
Selling sex is not in itself an offence in Guyana, but the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act punishes anyone who loiters about or importunes people in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution, with a fine or up to 18 months on first conviction and three years on a second. The same Act punishes keeping or managing a brothel and knowingly letting premises for one, and makes a man who knowingly lives on the earnings of prostitution liable to imprisonment and, on a repeat conviction, to whipping or flogging. The Criminal Law (Offences) Act punishes procuring a woman to become a "common prostitute" (the statute's term) or a brothel inmate with up to ten years, and keeping a common bawdy house with two. Paying for sex is not an offence.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
Guyana's colonial-era statutes do not make selling sex itself an offence, but they criminalise almost everything around it: loitering or importuning in public for prostitution, keeping or letting premises for a brothel, a man living on the earnings of prostitution, and procuring a woman to become a "common prostitute" (the statute's term). Because public soliciting by the seller is an offence, the regime sits at the prohibitionist edge of abolitionism; buying is not an offence.[1][2]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Selling sex is not itself an offence, but loitering about or importuning any person in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution is a summary offence: a fine of GYD 15,000 to 30,000 or 18 months on first conviction, three years on a second.[1] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | No provision in the two main penal statutes makes paying an adult for sex an offence. Section 166(b) punishes a man who persistently solicits or importunes in a public place for immoral purposes, which could reach kerb-crawling.[1][2] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Keeping, managing or assisting in managing a brothel, knowingly permitting premises to be used as one, and letting premises knowing they will be used as one are summary offences (fine or 18 months; three years on a second conviction). Keeping a common bawdy house is also a misdemeanour carrying two years under the Criminal Law (Offences) Act.[1][2] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Procuring or attempting to procure a woman to become a "common prostitute" (the statute's term), or to leave Guyana or her usual home to become a brothel inmate, is a misdemeanour carrying ten years. A man who knowingly lives wholly or partly on the earnings of prostitution faces a fine or 18 months, then three years plus liability to whipping or flogging.[1][2] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. Public soliciting for prostitution is an offence, and the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act separately punishes circulating obscene objects; advertising a brothel could also support the brothel offences.[1] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sex is not itself an offence, but loitering about or importuning any person in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution is a summary offence: a fine of GYD 15,000 to 30,000 or 18 months on first conviction, three years on a second.[1]
Note. How the police apply this and other public-order provisions in practice was not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
No provision in the two main penal statutes makes paying an adult for sex an offence. Section 166(b) punishes a man who persistently solicits or importunes in a public place for immoral purposes, which could reach kerb-crawling.[1][2]
Confidence: medium. Whether s. 166(b) is applied to clients was not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Keeping, managing or assisting in managing a brothel, knowingly permitting premises to be used as one, and letting premises knowing they will be used as one are summary offences (fine or 18 months; three years on a second conviction). Keeping a common bawdy house is also a misdemeanour carrying two years under the Criminal Law (Offences) Act.[1][2]
"Brothel" includes "a common ill-governed or disorderly house" (Cap. 8:02, s. 165(4)). Magistrates may issue warrants to enter suspected premises by force at any hour. The statute does not define a brothel by the number of people selling sex, so whether two sex workers sharing premises count as a brothel was not determined here.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Procuring or attempting to procure a woman to become a "common prostitute" (the statute's term), or to leave Guyana or her usual home to become a brothel inmate, is a misdemeanour carrying ten years. A man who knowingly lives wholly or partly on the earnings of prostitution faces a fine or 18 months, then three years plus liability to whipping or flogging.[1][2]
A man who lives with or is habitually in the company of a sex worker and has no visible means of subsistence is presumed to be living on the earnings of prostitution unless he satisfies the court otherwise (Cap. 8:02, s. 168). Both the procuring and the earnings offences are written for female victims and male offenders.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. Public soliciting for prostitution is an offence, and the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act separately punishes circulating obscene objects; advertising a brothel could also support the brothel offences.[1]
Confidence: low. Inference from the general offences; online advertising, cybercrime and telecommunications law were not reviewed.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Laws of Guyana, Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:02 Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Cap. 8:02 ss. 165-168 | Brothel keeping, letting premises for a brothel, living on earnings and public soliciting for prostitution.[1] | |
| Laws of Guyana, Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:01 (L.R.O. 1/2012) Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Cap. 8:01 s. 73 · s. 356 | Procuring women into prostitution or brothels, and keeping a common bawdy house.[2] | |
| Laws of Guyana, Sexual Offences Act, Chapter 8:03 (Act 7 of 2010) Sexual Offences Act 2010 (Act No. 7 of 2010), Cap. 8:03 | Repealed and replaced the older sexual offences in the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, including several procuring provisions.[3] | 2010 |
Timeline
Sources
- Laws of Guyana, Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:02. Laws of Guyana (copy published by the Organization of American States, MESICIC). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Laws of Guyana, Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:01 (L.R.O. 1/2012). Laws of Guyana (copy published by FAOLEX, Food and Agriculture Organization). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Laws of Guyana, Sexual Offences Act, Chapter 8:03 (Act 7 of 2010). Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Guyana. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026