Prostitution laws in Jordanالأردن
Jordan prohibits selling sex but not buying it. Under the Penal Code No. 16 of 1960, any person, male or female, who habitually practises prostitution faces up to a year in prison and a fine of 200 dinars (Article 312(3)). Setting up or managing a brothel carries at least a year and a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 dinars, and a brothel includes premises where a single woman is visited by more than one man (Articles 309 and 312(2)). Procuring women into prostitution, men living on a woman's earnings and women controlling another woman's prostitution are separate offences. The 2023 Cybercrime Law punishes using the internet or creating a website to facilitate, promote or incite prostitution with at least six months and a fine of 9,000 to 15,000 dinars. The official consolidated texts could not be opened for this overview.
Legal model
Selling and buying prohibited. Selling sex is an offence (criminal or administrative), whether or not buying is.
The Penal Code makes habitually practising prostitution an offence for men and women (Article 312(3)) and criminalises brothels and procuring. It contains no specific offence for the client; the UN's 2024 review states that the person asking for sexual services is not criminalised. Adultery is an offence (Articles 282–284) but is prosecuted only on a complaint.[1][2]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Illegal Criminal offence | Any person, male or female, who habitually practises prostitution is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of 200 dinars (Penal Code Article 312(3)).[1][2] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | The Penal Code contains no offence of paying for sex, and the UN's 2024 gender-justice review states that Jordanian law does not criminalise the person asking for sexual services. The adultery provisions (Articles 282–284) can be prosecuted only on a complaint, which the UN review says may come from a spouse or a legal guardian.[1][2] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Setting up, managing, working in or helping to manage a brothel is punishable by at least one year and a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 dinars (Article 312(2)). A tenant or owner who knowingly allows premises to be used as a brothel faces up to two years and a fine of 200 to 500 dinars (Article 312(1)). A brothel is any premises where two or more women live or meet to practise prostitution, or where one woman is visited by more than one man (Article 309).[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Leading or attempting to lead a woman into prostitution, in Jordan or abroad, is punishable by six months to three years and a fine of 200 to 500 dinars (Article 310). A man living wholly or partly on a woman's earnings from prostitution faces six months to two years (Article 315), and a woman who controls another woman's prostitution up to two years (Article 316).[1] |
| Advertising sexual services | Illegal Criminal offence | Using an information network, information technology or information system, or creating a website, to facilitate, promote, incite, assist or urge prostitution and debauchery, or to offend public morals, is punishable by at least six months and a fine of 9,000 to 15,000 dinars (Cybercrime Law No. 17 of 2023, Article 14(a)). Where minors or persons with a mental disability are exploited, the penalty is temporary hard labour (Article 14(b)).[3] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Any person, male or female, who habitually practises prostitution is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of 200 dinars (Penal Code Article 312(3)).[1][2]
Confidence: low. The official legislation portal could not be used; the text was read from a law firm's consolidation stated to include amendments to 2026, and is consistent with the UN ESCWA 2024 review.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
The Penal Code contains no offence of paying for sex, and the UN's 2024 gender-justice review states that Jordanian law does not criminalise the person asking for sexual services. The adultery provisions (Articles 282–284) can be prosecuted only on a complaint, which the UN review says may come from a spouse or a legal guardian.[1][2]
Confidence: low. Based on an unofficial consolidation and a UN review; whether clients are prosecuted under other provisions in practice was not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Setting up, managing, working in or helping to manage a brothel is punishable by at least one year and a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 dinars (Article 312(2)). A tenant or owner who knowingly allows premises to be used as a brothel faces up to two years and a fine of 200 to 500 dinars (Article 312(1)). A brothel is any premises where two or more women live or meet to practise prostitution, or where one woman is visited by more than one man (Article 309).[1]
Confidence: low. Read from an unofficial consolidation; the official text could not be opened.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Leading or attempting to lead a woman into prostitution, in Jordan or abroad, is punishable by six months to three years and a fine of 200 to 500 dinars (Article 310). A man living wholly or partly on a woman's earnings from prostitution faces six months to two years (Article 315), and a woman who controls another woman's prostitution up to two years (Article 316).[1]
Confidence: low. Read from an unofficial consolidation; the official text could not be opened.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
Using an information network, information technology or information system, or creating a website, to facilitate, promote, incite, assist or urge prostitution and debauchery, or to offend public morals, is punishable by at least six months and a fine of 9,000 to 15,000 dinars (Cybercrime Law No. 17 of 2023, Article 14(a)). Where minors or persons with a mental disability are exploited, the penalty is temporary hard labour (Article 14(b)).[3]
The offence expressly covers whoever "creates a website" for these purposes, which reaches operators of sites hosting such advertisements. Law No. 17 of 2023 replaced the Cybercrime Law of 2015.
Confidence: low. Read from an unofficial legal database; the Official Gazette text was not opened.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| قانون العقوبات الأردني رقم 16 لسنة 1960 وتعديلاته Penal Code No. 16 of 1960, as amended art. 309–318 | Articles 309 to 318 define brothels and punish habitual prostitution, brothel-keeping and procuring.[1] | |
| قانون الجرائم الإلكترونية رقم (17) لسنة 2023 Cybercrime Law No. 17 of 2023 art. 14 | Article 14 punishes using the internet or creating a website to facilitate or promote prostitution.[3] |
Timeline
Sources
- قانون العقوبات الأردني رقم 16 لسنة 1960 وتعديلاته (Jordanian Penal Code No. 16 of 1960, as amended (unofficial consolidation)). jordan-lawyer.com. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Country matrix 2024: Jordan — Gender Justice and the Law. UN ESCWA, UNDP, UNFPA and UN Women. intergovernmental · accessed 30 October 2026
- قانون الجرائم الإلكترونية رقم (17) لسنة 2023 (Cybercrime Law No. 17 of 2023 (unofficial copy)). Mohaymeed legal database. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026