Prostitution laws in MadagascarMadagasikara
Selling and buying sex between adults are not offences in Madagascar, but organising or profiting from it is. Article 334 of the Code pénal punishes as a procurer (proxénète), with two to five years and a fine of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 ariary, anyone who knowingly helps, assists or protects another's prostitution or soliciting, shares in its proceeds, lives with a person who habitually engages in prostitution without sufficient own income, recruits or keeps an adult for prostitution even with consent, or acts as an intermediary. Running a prostitution establishment, or habitually tolerating prostitution in a hotel, bar or other place open to the public, is also an offence (art. 335). In 2014 the Antananarivo authorities were reported to have banned passive soliciting in the city centre.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
Adult prostitution is not an offence, but the Code pénal, modelled on the French code of 1960, criminalises procuring in broad terms (art. 334), including helping a person's prostitution or soliciting and living with a sex worker without sufficient own income, and running or tolerating prostitution in an establishment (art. 335). Its wording speaks of the "lutte contre la prostitution" and of "rééducation". Médecins du Monde (2024) calls the regime semi-prohibitionist.[1][2]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Legal | No provision of the Code pénal makes selling sex by an adult an offence; the prostitution articles target procurers, establishments and the exploitation of children. Article 334 refers to "dispositions réprimant le racolage public" (provisions punishing public soliciting), but no such national offence was located, and in 2014 the Antananarivo authorities were reported to have banned passive soliciting in the city centre.[1][2][3] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | Paying an adult for sex is not an offence. Having sexual relations with a child in exchange for any form of payment or advantage is punishable by two to five years and a fine of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 ariary (art. 334 quinto, added in 2008), and sex tourism involving children is targeted by the same reform.[1] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Anyone who owns, directly or through another, manages, directs or operates a prostitution establishment, or who habitually tolerates the presence of persons engaging in prostitution in a hotel, furnished house, boarding house, bar, club, dance hall, place of entertainment or other place open to the public that they hold or manage, is punished with the penalties of the preceding article; the penalties double for a repeat offence within ten years (art. 335).[1][2] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | A procurer is anyone who knowingly helps or protects another's prostitution or soliciting, shares its proceeds or receives money from a person habitually engaged in it, lives with such a person without sufficient own resources, recruits or keeps an adult for prostitution even with consent, or acts as an intermediary: two to five years and 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 ariary (art. 334). Aggravated cases carry five to ten years (art. 334 bis); Law 2014-040 also punishes trafficking for it.[1][4] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. Knowingly helping or assisting another person's prostitution or soliciting "in any way" is procuring (art. 334(1)), so a third party publishing or hosting adverts for gain could be prosecuted under it; acting as an intermediary between sex workers and clients is also procuring (art. 334(5)).[1] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
No provision of the Code pénal makes selling sex by an adult an offence; the prostitution articles target procurers, establishments and the exploitation of children. Article 334 refers to "dispositions réprimant le racolage public" (provisions punishing public soliciting), but no such national offence was located, and in 2014 the Antananarivo authorities were reported to have banned passive soliciting in the city centre.[1][2][3]
Confidence: medium. Code read in the Lexxika consolidated text (French). The legal instrument and sanctions of the 2014 Antananarivo soliciting ban were not identified, and contraventions in Book IV of the Code were not checked. Médecins du Monde (2024) reports frequent police identity checks and abuses against sex workers, especially minors.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Paying an adult for sex is not an offence. Having sexual relations with a child in exchange for any form of payment or advantage is punishable by two to five years and a fine of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 ariary (art. 334 quinto, added in 2008), and sex tourism involving children is targeted by the same reform.[1]
Confidence: medium. Absence of a client offence for adults inferred from the Code pénal; other statutes were not searched exhaustively.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Anyone who owns, directly or through another, manages, directs or operates a prostitution establishment, or who habitually tolerates the presence of persons engaging in prostitution in a hotel, furnished house, boarding house, bar, club, dance hall, place of entertainment or other place open to the public that they hold or manage, is punished with the penalties of the preceding article; the penalties double for a repeat offence within ten years (art. 335).[1][2]
Confidence: medium. Article 335 refers to "the preceding article"; since arts. 334 ter to 334 quinto were inserted later, the exact penalty it imports is ambiguous in the consolidated text (originally the procuring penalties of arts. 334–334 bis).
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
A procurer is anyone who knowingly helps or protects another's prostitution or soliciting, shares its proceeds or receives money from a person habitually engaged in it, lives with such a person without sufficient own resources, recruits or keeps an adult for prostitution even with consent, or acts as an intermediary: two to five years and 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 ariary (art. 334). Aggravated cases carry five to ten years (art. 334 bis); Law 2014-040 also punishes trafficking for it.[1][4]
Note. Translated from the French. Médecins du Monde (2024) notes the definition is wide enough to reach sex workers' partners.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. Knowingly helping or assisting another person's prostitution or soliciting "in any way" is procuring (art. 334(1)), so a third party publishing or hosting adverts for gain could be prosecuted under it; acting as an intermediary between sex workers and clients is also procuring (art. 334(5)).[1]
Confidence: low. Inferred from the general procuring offence; no case law on adverts or websites was found, and the cybercrime and press laws were not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Code pénal, Livre III : Des crimes, des délits et de leur punition Penal Code (as amended, including by Ordinance 60-161 of 1960, Law 98-024 of 1999 and Law 2007-038 of 2008) arts. 334–335 | Articles 334–335 define procuring and brothel offences; arts. 333 ter and 334 quater–quinto cover sexual exploitation and child prostitution.[1] | |
| Loi n° 2014-040 sur la lutte contre la traite des êtres humains Law No. 2014-040 on combating trafficking in human beings art. 5 | Punishes trafficking for the exploitation of the prostitution of others (art. 5) with two to five years and a fine.[4] |
Timeline
- 3 October 1960Ordinance 60-161 gives the Code pénal its procuring and prostitution-establishment provisions (arts. 334–335).[1]
- 25 January 1999Law 98-024 recasts the procuring offence (art. 334) and its aggravated form (art. 334 bis).[1]
- 14 January 2008Law 2007-038 on trafficking and sex tourism adds offences of recruiting a person for prostitution (art. 334 ter), sexual exploitation and paying a child for sex.[1]
- April 2014The Antananarivo authorities are reported to have banned passive soliciting in the city centre, citing child prostitution.[3]
- 16 December 2014The National Assembly adopts Law 2014-040 on combating trafficking in human beings.[4]
Sources
- Code pénal, Livre III : Des crimes, des délits et de leur punition (Penal Code, Book III: Crimes and délits and their punishment). Lexxika (consolidated text). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Violences basées sur le genre envers les professionnel·les du sexe à Madagascar (Gender-based violence against sex workers in Madagascar). Médecins du Monde, May 2024. ngo · accessed 30 October 2026
- Madagascar : la lutte contre la prostitution des mineurs se renforce. PressAfrik, 5 April 2014. news · accessed 30 October 2026
- Loi n° 2014-040 sur la lutte contre la traite des êtres humains (Law No. 2014-040 on combating trafficking in human beings). Assemblée nationale (copy hosted by The Warnath Group), 16 December 2014. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026