Is prostitution legal in Vanuatu?
Illegal
Prostitution is illegal in Vanuatu but common, especially in the capital Port Vila.
Vanuatu is one of 105 countries classified “Illegal” for sex work — 48% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Prostitution in Oceania
- 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
- New Caledonia
- Buying illegal (Nordic model) Purchasing sex is criminalized while selling sex remains legal, following the French Law of June 2016.
- Solomon Islands
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal but soliciting and brothel keeping are prohibited, with laws rarely enforced.
- Fiji
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal but brothel keeping, procuring, and buying or selling sex in public are illegal under the Crimes Decree 2009.
- Norfolk Island
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal and regulated with brothels required to be registered and soliciting restricted near schools and churches.
- Tuvalu
- Illegal Prostitution is legal in Tuvalu, but living off earnings, procuring, brothel keeping, and solicitation are illegal.
- Wallis and Futuna Islands
- Illegal Prostitution is illegal in Wallis and Futuna under French law, including prohibition of purchasing sex, solicitation, procuring, and brothels.
Other laws in Vanuatu
- Same-Sex Activity
- Legal
- Age of Consent
- 14–15
- Pornography
- Illegal
- Incest Laws
- Criminal offense
- 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.