Prostitution Prostitution laws in Malta
In Malta selling sex in private is not an offence, but almost everything around it is criminalised by the White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance (Cap. 63): soliciting or loitering in public (up to six months' imprisonment), brothel-keeping, letting premises and living on another's earnings, with a statutory presumption against anyone living with or habitually accompanying a sex worker. Researchers report that courts have treated sex workers sharing a flat as brothel-keeping. Buying is legal except from minors or knowingly from trafficking victims. The government announced in 2019 that it would decriminalise prostitution and regulate massage parlours and gentlemen's clubs, without legalising brothels. A public debate between decriminalisation and Nordic-model advocates continued into 2023, but the reform has stalled and no bill has been tabled.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
No Maltese statute makes the private sale of sex between adults an offence, but loitering or soliciting in public, keeping or sharing in the management of a brothel, letting premises for prostitution and living on the earnings of another's prostitution are crimes under the 1930 White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance. Buying is an offence only from a minor or from a person known to be trafficked. A 2019 plan to decriminalise prostitution stalled and has not produced legislation.[1][2][3]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Selling sex privately is not an offence. Anyone who loiters or solicits in a street, public place or place exposed to the public for the purpose of prostitution commits a crime punishable by up to six months' imprisonment.[1][3] |
| Buying sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Buying sex from an adult is not an offence. It is a crime to take part in sexual activity with a minor where child prostitution is involved (five to ten years), and to use the services of a person knowing that the person has been trafficked (18 months to five years).[2] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Keeping, managing or sharing in the management or profits of a brothel or any premises resorted to for prostitution is punished with up to two years' imprisonment and a fine. Letting premises, permitting a shop, hotel or flat to be used for assignation, and renting vehicles for prostitution are separate offences.[1][3] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Knowingly living wholly or partly on the earnings of another person's prostitution is punished with up to two years' imprisonment (18 months to four years if that person is under 18). Anyone who lives with or is habitually in the company of a sex worker is presumed to be doing so unless they prove otherwise.[1][2] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted | Neither Cap. 63 nor the Criminal Code contains an offence specifically aimed at advertising adult sexual services; the only advertising offence found concerns child sex tourism (art. 208AB). Public solicitation remains a crime, and online ads have been used as evidence in police action against sex workers.[1][2][3] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sex privately is not an offence. Anyone who loiters or solicits in a street, public place or place exposed to the public for the purpose of prostitution commits a crime punishable by up to six months' imprisonment.[1][3]
The public-solicitation offence is in art. 7(2) of Cap. 63. Academic fieldwork (2022–2024 interviews) reports that migrant sex workers face arrest, immigration detention and deportation in connection with prostitution-related charges, and that police have used profiles on escort websites as evidence.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Buying sex from an adult is not an offence. It is a crime to take part in sexual activity with a minor where child prostitution is involved (five to ten years), and to use the services of a person knowing that the person has been trafficked (18 months to five years).[2]
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Keeping, managing or sharing in the management or profits of a brothel or any premises resorted to for prostitution is punished with up to two years' imprisonment and a fine. Letting premises, permitting a shop, hotel or flat to be used for assignation, and renting vehicles for prostitution are separate offences.[1][3]
Arts. 8–10 of Cap. 63 cover brothel-keeping, vehicles and premises. Art. 12 obliges owners notified by the Police Commissioner to take steps to evict occupants, and art. 13 lets the Commissioner close premises pending trial. The law does not expressly address sex workers sharing a flat, but researchers report that courts have often treated shared accommodation as de facto brothel-keeping.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Knowingly living wholly or partly on the earnings of another person's prostitution is punished with up to two years' imprisonment (18 months to four years if that person is under 18). Anyone who lives with or is habitually in the company of a sex worker is presumed to be doing so unless they prove otherwise.[1][2]
Art. 7(3) of Cap. 63 creates the rebuttable presumption, which also covers anyone exercising control, direction or influence over a sex worker's movements. Compelling or inducing an adult into prostitution by violence or deceit is a separate offence under art. 205 of the Criminal Code, and trafficking for sexual exploitation falls under arts. 248A–248F.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
Neither Cap. 63 nor the Criminal Code contains an offence specifically aimed at advertising adult sexual services; the only advertising offence found concerns child sex tourism (art. 208AB). Public solicitation remains a crime, and online ads have been used as evidence in police action against sex workers.[1][2][3]
Confidence: medium. Based on a full-text search of the consolidated Cap. 9 and Cap. 63. We found no judgment on whether an advertising website or its operator could be liable under the living-on-earnings or brothel provisions, so the position of platforms is untested rather than clearly lawful.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance, Chapter 63 White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance (Chapter 63 of the Laws of Malta) Art. 7 · Art. 8 · Art. 9 · Art. 10 · Art. 12 · Art. 13 | Main prostitution statute: public soliciting, living on earnings (with a presumption), brothel-keeping, letting premises and police closure powers.[1] | 1 August 1930 |
| Criminal Code, Chapter 9 Criminal Code (Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta) Art. 204D · Art. 205 · Arts. 248A–248F | Offences of forced prostitution, child prostitution, trafficking, and knowingly using the services of a trafficked person.[2] |
Pending and under review
Stalled · updated 2026
Government reform on human trafficking and prostitution (decriminalisation proposal)
Launched for public consultation on 3 September 2019 by the Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms. It proposed that people who sell sex would no longer be prosecuted, that exit programmes be set up and prostitution-related criminal records cleared, and that massage parlours and gentlemen's clubs be regulated, without legalising brothels. Abolitionist groups, including the Malta Women's Lobby in an open letter of January 2023, pressed instead for the Nordic model (criminalising buyers). Academic work published in 2026 describes the process as stalled, with no legislation tabled.[3][4][5]
Timeline
- 1 August 1930White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance comes into force, criminalising brothel-keeping, living on earnings and public solicitation.[1]
- 2013Act XVIII of 2013 adds art. 248F to the Criminal Code, making it an offence to use the services of a person known to be trafficked.[2]
- 3 September 2019Government opens a public consultation on a reform to decriminalise prostitution and regulate massage parlours and gentlemen's clubs.[4]
- 11 January 2023The Malta Women's Lobby urges the junior minister responsible to adopt the Nordic model instead of full decriminalisation.[5]
Sources
- White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance, Chapter 63. Government of Malta – legislation.mt, 1 August 1930. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Criminal Code, Chapter 9. Government of Malta – legislation.mt. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Resisting "Manufactured" Vulnerability: Discretionary Policing and Migrant Sex Workers' Resistance Strategies in Malta. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 15(3) (Rossoni & van der Woude), 2026. academic · accessed 30 October 2026
- Prostitutes will no longer be prosecuted under proposed sex work laws. MaltaToday, 3 September 2019. news · accessed 30 October 2026
- 'Protection of sex workers can only be ensured by outlawing prostitution' – Women's Lobby. Newsbook, 11 January 2023. news · accessed 30 October 2026