Is prostitution legal in the Dominican Republic?

Legal & regulated

Selling sex is legal, but third-party financial gain and brothels are illegal.

The Dominican Republic is one of 61 countries classified “Legal & regulated” for sex work — 28% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)

Source

Taken from
Wikipedia: Prostitution in the Americas
Last checked
17 September 2026
How it was classified
Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.

Nearby countries

Haiti
Illegal Selling sex is a criminal offense, despite historical sex tourism.
Puerto Rico
Illegal Prostitution is illegal in Puerto Rico, despite past government considerations to legalize it.
United States Virgin Islands
Illegal Prostitution is explicitly stated to be illegal in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
British Virgin Islands
Legal & regulated Selling sex is legal, though soliciting and procuring are illegal.
Jamaica
Illegal Selling sex is a criminal offense, though it is widely tolerated in tourist areas.
Anguilla
Decriminalized / unregulated Selling sex is legal, but brothel keeping and other related activities are illegal.

Other laws in Dominican Republic

Same-Sex Marriage
Not recognized
Same-Sex Activity
Legal
Age of Consent
18+
Same-Sex Adoption
Not permitted
Incest Laws
Legal between adults
Marriage Age
18+

Every law in the Dominican Republic → · Where is sex work legal? →

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.