View source for Prostitution by region

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_by_region
= Prostitution by Regions =
== Prostitution in Africa ==
Prostitution is illegal in the majority of African countries. HIV/AIDS infection rates are particularly high among African sex workers.

Nevertheless, it is common, driven by the widespread poverty in many sub-Saharan African countries, and is one of the drivers for the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Social breakdown and poverty caused by civil war in several African countries has caused further increases in the rate of prostitution in those countries. For these reasons, some African countries have also become destinations for sex tourism.

Long-distance truck drivers have been identified as a group with the high-risk behaviour of sleeping with prostitutes and a tendency to spread the infection along trade routes in the region. Infection rates of up to 33% were observed in this group in the late 1980s in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
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== Prostitution in the Americas ==
Legality of prostitution in the Americas varies by country. Most countries only legalized prostitution, with the act of exchanging money for sexual services legal. The level of enforcement varies by country.

=== Prostitution in North America ===

Legal status of prostitution in Central America and the Caribbean

===Prostitution in South America ===
Legality of prostitution in the Americas varies by country. Most countries only legalized prostitution, with the act of exchanging money for sexual services legal. The level of enforcement varies by country.
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== Prostitution in Asia==
Legality varies with local laws 

In Asia, the main characteristic of the region is the very big discrepancy between the laws which exist on the books and what occurs in practice. For example, in Thailand prostitution is illegal, but in practice it is tolerated and partly regulated, and the country is a destination for sex tourism. Such situations are common in many Asian countries.
=== Prostitution in Japan ===
In Japan, prostitution is legal with the exception of heterosexual, vaginal intercourse. Advertisements that detail what each individual prostitute will do (oral sex, anal sex, etc.) are a common sight in the country, although many prostitutes disregard the law.
=== Prostitution in India  ===
In India, prostitution is legal only if carried out in the private residence of a prostitute or others.

==Europe==
In [[Prostitution in Belgium|Belgium]], sex work has been decriminalized since 1 June 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LOI - WET |url=https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/change_lg.pl?language=nl&la=N&cn=2022032101&table_name=wet |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=www.ejustice.just.fgov.be}}</ref>  It is the first country in Europe and the second country in the world (after New Zealand) to [[Decriminalization of sex work|decriminalize]] sex work.

In [[Sweden]],<ref name=ys05>[http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/swom/2005/00000013/00000001/art00006 Yvonne Svanström, “Through the Prism of Prostitution: Conceptions of Women and Sexuality in Sweden at Two Fins-de-Siècle”], Nordic Journal of Women’s Studies, 2005 (13): 48-58</ref> [[Northern Ireland]],<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-30805990|title = Human Trafficking Bill receives Royal Assent|date = 14 January 2015|work = BBC News|access-date = 27 January 2015}}</ref> [[Norway]],<ref name=snl2>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Prostitusjon|first1=John Christian |last1=Elden |first2=Sigurd|last2= Skirbekk|url=https://snl.no/prostitusjon |access-date=30 August 2014|encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon|editor-last=Henriksen|editor-first=Petter |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo |language=no|year=2014}}</ref> [[Iceland]],<ref name="jafnretti.is">{{cite web |url=http://www.jafnretti.is/jafnretti/?D10cID=ReadNews&ID=523 |title=Jafnréttisstofa |publisher=Jafnretti.is |date=2009-04-21 |access-date=2010-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709124826/http://www.jafnretti.is/jafnretti/?D10cID=ReadNews&ID=523 |archive-date=2015-07-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[France]]<ref>[http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2016/04/06/prostitution-le-parlement-adopte-definitivement-la-penalisation-des-clients_4897216_3224.html Prostitution : le Parlement adopte définitivement la pénalisation des clients] 'Le Monde', accessed 7 April 2016</ref> it is illegal to pay for sex (the [[Client (prostitution)|client]] commits a crime, but not the prostitute).

In the [[United Kingdom]], it is illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute who has been "subjected to force" and this is a [[strict liability]] offense (clients can be prosecuted even if they did not know the prostitute was forced), but prostitution itself is legal.<ref>[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2009/ukpga_20090026_en_4#pt2-pb1-l1g14 Policing and Crime Act 2009]. Opsi.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2012-01-11.</ref><ref>[http://www.nodo50.org/Laura_Agustin/unworkable-ways-to-stop-trafficking-uk-law-on-exploitation-and-gain Policing and Crime | UK | Anti-trafficking | Exploitation | Sex Industry | The Naked Anthropologist]. Nodo50.org (2010-04-06). Retrieved on 2012-01-11.</ref>

In [[Germany]] prostitution is legal, as are [[brothel]]s.

In [[Finland]], [[Norway]] and [[Switzerland]] the right to sell sex is restricted based on citizenship. Aliens caught selling sex in Finland or Norway may be deported and of foreign citizens only [[EU citizen]]s can get a Swiss prostitution license. 

The enforcement of the anti-prostitution laws varies by country.

In Eastern Europe, prostitution was outlawed by the former communist regimes, and most of those countries chose to keep it illegal even after the fall of the Communists. It was only legalized by the former communist countries that joined the European Union (except for [[Lithuania]] and [[Croatia]], where it remains illegal). It is even regulated in Hungary and Latvia.

Lithuania and Croatia remain the only countries in the European Union where women providing sexual services are punished. Croatia is the only one in which only a sex worker is criminalized, because Lithuania also criminalizes clients. In Sweden, France and Ireland only clients are punished, while in other countries both the sale and purchase of sexual services is legal.


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