Is prostitution legal in Brazil?
Decriminalized / unregulated
Prostitution is not criminalized for adults, but operating brothels or employing sex workers is illegal, with public order laws targeting street prostitutes.
Brazil is one of 28 countries classified “Decriminalized / unregulated” for sex work — 13% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Prostitution in the Americas
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Bolivia
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal and regulated in Bolivia, limited to registered prostitutes in licensed brothels with mandatory health checks.
- Suriname
- Illegal Prostitution is illegal but widely practiced with rare enforcement.
- Paraguay
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal for adults over 18, but brothel keeping is prohibited.
- Guyana
- Illegal Prostitution is illegal but widespread; sex workers face violence and abuse, with three distinct types based on clientele and location.
- Peru
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal for adults over 18 with registration and health certificates, brothels require licensing.
- Venezuela
- Legal & regulated Sex work is legal and regulated with health requirements and identification cards.
Other laws in Brazil
- Same-Sex Marriage
- Marriage legal
- Same-Sex Activity
- Legal
- Age of Consent
- 14–15
- Divorce
- Legal
- Non-Binary Recognition
- Limited recognition
- Same-Sex Adoption
- Joint adoption legal
- Incest Laws
- Legal between adults
- Marriage Age
- 18+
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.