Prostitution Prostitution laws in MoldovaRepublica Moldova
Moldova sanctions both selling and buying sex as contraventions. Article 89 of the Contravention Code defines prostitution as satisfying a person's sexual desire by any method or means in exchange for payment; it carries a fine of 14 to 26 conventional units or 10 to 20 hours of community work, and paying or promising payment for such services carries 36 to 48 units or 40 to 60 hours. A person who acted against their will is exempt. Proxenetism (Article 220 of the Criminal Code) covers inciting or inducing prostitution, facilitating it and profiting from another person's prostitution, with a fine or two to five years. The 2022 Law on Advertising prohibits advertising that encourages, directly or indirectly, behaviour contrary to the law.
Legal model
Selling and buying prohibited. Selling sex is an offence (criminal or administrative), whether or not buying is.
Practising prostitution and benefiting from paid sexual services are both contraventions under Article 89 of the Contravention Code (buyers since 9 December 2018). Since July 2022 the buyer's fine is higher than the seller's. Proxenetism, which includes inciting, facilitating or profiting from another person's prostitution, is a crime under Article 220 of the Criminal Code.[1][2][3]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Illegal Administrative offence | Practising prostitution, defined as satisfying another person's sexual desire by any method or means for payment, is a contravention punished by a fine of 14 to 26 conventional units or 10 to 20 hours of unpaid community work. A person who acted against their will is exempt from liability.[1][2][4][5][6] |
| Buying sexual services | Illegal Administrative offence | Benefiting from paid sexual services in exchange for offering or promising a reward is a contravention punished by a fine of 36 to 48 conventional units or 40 to 60 hours of community work. Buyers have been liable since 9 December 2018; their sanction was raised and the seller's lowered with effect from July 2022.[1][2][6] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | There is no separate brothel offence; running a venue for prostitution falls under proxenetism, which includes facilitating the practice of prostitution and profiting from another person's prostitution. The basic offence carries a fine of 650 to 1,350 conventional units or two to five years, four to seven years for aggravated forms.[3] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Proxenetism, meaning inciting or inducing a person into prostitution, facilitating the practice of prostitution or deriving benefit from another person's prostitution, where the act is not trafficking, carries a fine of 650 to 1,350 conventional units or two to five years. Offences against two or more people, a pregnant woman, by two or more offenders or by public officials carry four to seven years; organised crime, five to ten.[3][7] |
| Advertising sexual services | Illegal | No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. The Law on Advertising (No. 62/2022) prohibits immoral advertising and advertising that encourages, directly or indirectly, behaviour contrary to the law; since selling and buying sex are contraventions, adverts for them fall under that ban. Placing adverts for another person's services can also amount to facilitating prostitution under Article 220 of the Criminal Code.[3][8] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Practising prostitution, defined as satisfying another person's sexual desire by any method or means for payment, is a contravention punished by a fine of 14 to 26 conventional units or 10 to 20 hours of unpaid community work. A person who acted against their will is exempt from liability.[1][2][4][5][6]
Article 89(1) and (3) of the Contravention Code, as replaced by Law No. 159 of 12 October 2018 (in force 9 December 2018). Law No. 102 of 14 April 2022 lowered the seller's sanction from 36-48 units / 40-60 hours to 14-26 units / 10-20 hours. Law No. 316 of 17 November 2022 deleted the words "including through information technologies or electronic communications" from the definition; the Ministry of Justice's explanatory note, relying on Constitutional Court Decision No. 36/2018, says that online sexual services without physical contact are pornography rather than prostitution. One conventional unit equals 50 lei (Art. 34(1) of the Contravention Code), so the seller's fine is MDL 700 to 1,300.
Confidence: medium. Each amending law was read in the Official Gazette (Monitorul Oficial); the consolidated code on legis.md sits behind a Cloudflare challenge, so the current wording was checked against an unofficial consolidation of February 2024 and amendments after that date were not checked. The value of the conventional unit is not stated here.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Benefiting from paid sexual services in exchange for offering or promising a reward is a contravention punished by a fine of 36 to 48 conventional units or 40 to 60 hours of community work. Buyers have been liable since 9 December 2018; their sanction was raised and the seller's lowered with effect from July 2022.[1][2][6]
One conventional unit equals 50 lei (Art. 34(1) of the Contravention Code), so the buyer's fine is MDL 1,800 to 2,400.
Confidence: medium. Amendments read in the Official Gazette; later changes after February 2024 not checked because legis.md could not be opened.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
There is no separate brothel offence; running a venue for prostitution falls under proxenetism, which includes facilitating the practice of prostitution and profiting from another person's prostitution. The basic offence carries a fine of 650 to 1,350 conventional units or two to five years, four to seven years for aggravated forms.[3]
Confidence: medium. Article 220 is quoted from Constitutional Court Decision No. 49 of 31 May 2018; the current consolidated Criminal Code on legis.md could not be opened, so later amendments were not checked. Treating a brothel as facilitation is our reading.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Proxenetism, meaning inciting or inducing a person into prostitution, facilitating the practice of prostitution or deriving benefit from another person's prostitution, where the act is not trafficking, carries a fine of 650 to 1,350 conventional units or two to five years. Offences against two or more people, a pregnant woman, by two or more offenders or by public officials carry four to seven years; organised crime, five to ten.[3][7]
Confidence: medium. Text as quoted by the Constitutional Court in 2018. In Litschauer v. Moldova (2018) the European Court of Human Rights found that detaining the owner of an erotic video-chat studio on proxenetism charges breached Article 5 § 1, because it was not foreseeable that video-chat counted as prostitution.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No provision specifically on advertising sexual services was found. The Law on Advertising (No. 62/2022) prohibits immoral advertising and advertising that encourages, directly or indirectly, behaviour contrary to the law; since selling and buying sex are contraventions, adverts for them fall under that ban. Placing adverts for another person's services can also amount to facilitating prostitution under Article 220 of the Criminal Code.[3][8]
Confidence: low. Applying the general ban to adverts for sexual services, and Article 220 to ad sites, is our inference; no enforcement practice or case law was found. The sanction for breaching the advertising law was not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Lege privind modificarea unor acte legislative nr. 159 din 12 octombrie 2018 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 416-422, art. 649) Contravention Code (Codul contravențional, Law No. 218/2008), as amended by Law No. 159 of 12 October 2018 Art. 89 | Article 89: practising prostitution (para. 1), paying for sexual services (para. 2), exemption for those acting against their will (para. 3).[1] | 9 December 2018 |
| Decizia nr. 49 din 31 mai 2018 de inadmisibilitate a sesizării nr. 62g/2018 privind excepția de neconstituționalitate a unor prevederi din articolul 220 din Codul penal (proxenetismul) Criminal Code (Codul penal) Art. 220 | Article 220: proxenetism (inciting, facilitating or profiting from another person's prostitution).[3] | |
| Lege cu privire la publicitate nr. 62 din 17 martie 2022 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 98-105, art. 171) Law No. 62 of 17 March 2022 on Advertising Art. 7(3) | Article 7(3) bans immoral advertising and advertising encouraging behaviour contrary to the law.[8] |
Timeline
- 31 May 2018Constitutional Court declared inadmissible a challenge to Article 220 of the Criminal Code (proxenetism), Decision No. 49.[3]
- 13 November 2018European Court of Human Rights, Litschauer v. Moldova: detention on proxenetism charges over an erotic video-chat business breached Article 5 § 1, because the law was not foreseeable.[7]
- 9 December 2018Law No. 159/2018 entered into force: Article 89 rewritten to define prostitution and to sanction buyers as well as sellers.[1][6]
- 20 July 2022Law No. 102/2022 entered into force: seller's sanction lowered to 14-26 units, buyer's raised to 36-48 units.[2][6]
- 9 January 2023Law No. 316/2022 entered into force, removing online communications from the definition of prostitution in Article 89.[4][6]
Sources
- Lege privind modificarea unor acte legislative nr. 159 din 12 octombrie 2018 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 416-422, art. 649) (Law No. 159 of 12 October 2018 amending certain legislative acts (Official Gazette)). Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova, 9 November 2018. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Lege pentru modificarea unor acte normative nr. 102 din 14 aprilie 2022 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 115-117, art. 212) (Law No. 102 of 14 April 2022 amending certain normative acts (Official Gazette)). Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova, 20 April 2022. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Decizia nr. 49 din 31 mai 2018 de inadmisibilitate a sesizării nr. 62g/2018 privind excepția de neconstituționalitate a unor prevederi din articolul 220 din Codul penal (proxenetismul) (Constitutional Court Decision No. 49 of 31 May 2018 on Article 220 of the Criminal Code (proxenetism)). Curtea Constituțională a Republicii Moldova, 31 May 2018. case law · accessed 30 October 2026
- Lege pentru modificarea unor acte normative (asigurarea drepturilor victimelor în cazul infracțiunilor privind viața sexuală și violența în familie) nr. 316 din 17 noiembrie 2022 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 394-400, art. 737) (Law No. 316 of 17 November 2022 on the rights of victims of sexual offences and domestic violence (Official Gazette)). Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova, 9 December 2022. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Notă informativă la proiectul Legii cu privire la modificarea unor acte normative (asigurarea drepturilor victimelor în cazul infracțiunilor privind viața sexuală și violența în familie) (Explanatory note to the draft law on victims' rights (sexual offences and domestic violence)). Ministerul Justiției al Republicii Moldova. government · accessed 30 October 2026
- Codul contravențional al Republicii Moldova nr. 218-XVI din 24.10.2008 (text consolidat, februarie 2024) (Contravention Code (unofficial consolidated text, February 2024)). odo.md (unofficial consolidation), February 2024. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Cauza Litschauer v. Republica Moldova (Cererea nr. 25092/15), hotărâre din 13 noiembrie 2018 (Litschauer v. the Republic of Moldova, application no. 25092/15, ECtHR judgment of 13 November 2018 (Romanian translation published by the Government Agent)). Agentul guvernamental al Republicii Moldova, 13 November 2018. case law · accessed 30 October 2026
- Lege cu privire la publicitate nr. 62 din 17 martie 2022 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 98-105, art. 171) (Law No. 62 of 17 March 2022 on Advertising (Official Gazette)). Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova, 8 April 2022. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026