SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

6.4 Lao PDR
Lao PDR
Illegal
SEX WORK IN
PRIVATE
Illegal
SOLICITING
Illegal
BROTHELS
6.4.1 Laws
The penalty under the Penal Code for engaging in sex work, or assisting a person to engage
in sex work, is three months to one year of imprisonment or re-education with deprivation
of liberty and a fine. 421 Adultery is also illegal and carries the same penalty as engaging in
sex work. 422
The HIV/AIDS Law 2010:
states the obligation to “improve advocacy and education on HIV” among most-atrisk
populations (including sex workers); 423
provides legal protections from discrimination and stigmatization to people living
with HIV and “affected people”; 424
encourages monogamy, the use of condoms or “other protective measures” to avoid
sexual transmission of HIV; 425
provides that everyone has the right to voluntary counselling and testing for HIV, and
test results should be kept confidential, unless otherwise required by law; 426
provides that citizens, aliens, foreigners and people with no nationality residing in
Lao PDR have rights to information on HIV prevention; 427
provides that the health sector’s role includes to carry out surveys, monitoring, data
collection and analysis in order to report on HIV trends among sex workers and other
most-at-risk populations, and that findings should inform planning. 428
6.4.2 Law enforcement practices
Rapid economic development has spurred growth of beer shops where sex is sold to civil
servants, police, businessmen, teachers, coalmine workers, foreigners and local villagers.
Research has documented the impact of the growth of a cash economy on traditionally
isolated farming communities of Luang Namtha Province, where the sex trade involves
421 Article 122.
422 Article 117.
423 Article 14.
424 Article 34.
425 Article 15.
426 Article 18.
427 Article 32.
428 Article 28.
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