Prostitution Prostitution laws in the Solomon Islands
In the Solomon Islands, selling and buying sex in private are not offences, but the Penal Code (Cap. 26) makes it a misdemeanour to knowingly live on the earnings of prostitution, to persistently solicit in a public place for immoral purposes, to control a sex worker's movements for gain, and to keep, manage, permit or let premises for a brothel. Soliciting for immoral purposes in a public place, or a 'common prostitute' behaving indecently in public, carries two months or a $20 fine. The Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 added an offence of procuring a person to provide commercial sexual services, with up to fifteen years. No offence aimed specifically at advertising sexual services was found.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
Exchanging sex for money in private is not an offence, but the Penal Code (Cap. 26) criminalises living on the earnings of prostitution, persistent public soliciting and controlling a sex worker for gain (s. 153), brothel-keeping (s. 155) and public soliciting by 'idle and disorderly persons' (s. 175); since the Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 it also penalises procuring a person to provide commercial sexual services (s. 142(2)).[1][2]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Selling sex in private is not an offence. Soliciting for immoral purposes in a public place, or a 'common prostitute' behaving in a disorderly or indecent manner in public, makes a person an idle and disorderly person (two months or a $20 fine); persistently soliciting or importuning in public for immoral purposes is a misdemeanour.[1] |
| Buying sexual services | Legal | No offence of paying an adult for sex was found; the 2016 Act criminalises obtaining commercial sexual services from a child. The public soliciting offences are not limited to sellers.[1][2] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Keeping or managing, or assisting in the management of, a brothel; a tenant or occupier knowingly permitting premises to be used as a brothel or for habitual prostitution; and a landlord letting premises knowing they will be so used are misdemeanours.[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution, and for gain controlling a sex worker's movements so as to aid or compel their prostitution, are misdemeanours, with a presumption against anyone who lives with or habitually accompanies a sex worker. Procuring or attempting to procure a person to provide commercial sexual services, in the Solomon Islands or elsewhere, carries up to fifteen years (twenty if the person is under 15).[1][2] |
| Advertising sexual services | Restricted | No offence aimed specifically at advertising sexual services was found. The soliciting offences are limited to public places; a third party who profits from advertising others could face the living-on-earnings offence.[1] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sex in private is not an offence. Soliciting for immoral purposes in a public place, or a 'common prostitute' behaving in a disorderly or indecent manner in public, makes a person an idle and disorderly person (two months or a $20 fine); persistently soliciting or importuning in public for immoral purposes is a misdemeanour.[1]
Persistently soliciting or importuning in a public place for immoral purposes (s. 153(1)(b)) is a misdemeanour for which no special penalty is provided, so the general maximum of two years' imprisonment, a fine or both applies (s. 41).
Confidence: medium. Read from a copy of the Penal Code (Cap. 26) as amended to 1990 hosted by the University of Nottingham; the 2016 amending Act (a scanned copy hosted by antislaverylaw.ac.uk, read by OCR) repealed and replaced ss. 136-150 and s. 156 but not ss. 153-155 or s. 175. The consolidated text on PacLII could not be used: paclii.org refused automated access (HTTP 403) and its robots.txt disallows Anthropic's crawlers.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
No offence of paying an adult for sex was found; the 2016 Act criminalises obtaining commercial sexual services from a child. The public soliciting offences are not limited to sellers.[1][2]
Confidence: medium. Read from a copy of the Penal Code (Cap. 26) as amended to 1990 hosted by the University of Nottingham; the 2016 amending Act (a scanned copy hosted by antislaverylaw.ac.uk, read by OCR) repealed and replaced ss. 136-150 and s. 156 but not ss. 153-155 or s. 175. The consolidated text on PacLII could not be used: paclii.org refused automated access (HTTP 403) and its robots.txt disallows Anthropic's crawlers.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Keeping or managing, or assisting in the management of, a brothel; a tenant or occupier knowingly permitting premises to be used as a brothel or for habitual prostitution; and a landlord letting premises knowing they will be so used are misdemeanours.[1]
Confidence: medium. Read from a copy of the Penal Code (Cap. 26) as amended to 1990 hosted by the University of Nottingham; the 2016 amending Act (a scanned copy hosted by antislaverylaw.ac.uk, read by OCR) repealed and replaced ss. 136-150 and s. 156 but not ss. 153-155 or s. 175. The consolidated text on PacLII could not be used: paclii.org refused automated access (HTTP 403) and its robots.txt disallows Anthropic's crawlers. The general penalty for a misdemeanour was not checked.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution, and for gain controlling a sex worker's movements so as to aid or compel their prostitution, are misdemeanours, with a presumption against anyone who lives with or habitually accompanies a sex worker. Procuring or attempting to procure a person to provide commercial sexual services, in the Solomon Islands or elsewhere, carries up to fifteen years (twenty if the person is under 15).[1][2]
Confidence: medium. Read from a copy of the Penal Code (Cap. 26) as amended to 1990 hosted by the University of Nottingham; the 2016 amending Act (a scanned copy hosted by antislaverylaw.ac.uk, read by OCR) repealed and replaced ss. 136-150 and s. 156 but not ss. 153-155 or s. 175. The consolidated text on PacLII could not be used: paclii.org refused automated access (HTTP 403) and its robots.txt disallows Anthropic's crawlers. The number s. 142 is read from the page header of the OCR'd 2016 Act.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
No offence aimed specifically at advertising sexual services was found. The soliciting offences are limited to public places; a third party who profits from advertising others could face the living-on-earnings offence.[1]
Confidence: low. Inference from the absence of a specific provision in the code reviewed; electronic-communications, obscenity and trafficking laws were not reviewed for platform liability.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Laws of Solomon Islands, Chapter 26, Penal Code Penal Code, Chapter 26 s. 153 · s. 155 · s. 175 | Living on earnings, persistent soliciting and aiding prostitution (s. 153), brothels (s. 155) and idle and disorderly persons (s. 175).[1] | |
| Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 (No. 3 of 2016) Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 (No. 3 of 2016) s. 142 | Replaces ss. 136-150 of the Penal Code with new sexual offences, defines 'commercial sexual services' and creates the procuring offence (s. 142) and child commercial sexual exploitation offences.[2] |
Timeline
- 18 May 2016Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 assented to; it replaces the sexual offences in ss. 136-150 and adds an offence of procuring a person to provide commercial sexual services.[2]
Sources
- Laws of Solomon Islands, Chapter 26, Penal Code. Government of Solomon Islands (copy hosted by the University of Nottingham, Criminal Justice and Anti-Discrimination database). legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 (No. 3 of 2016). National Parliament of Solomon Islands (copy hosted by Antislavery in Domestic Legislation), 18 May 2016. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026