SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

4.2 Bangladesh 62
Bangladesh
Legal
SEX WORK IN
PRIVATE
Illegal
SOLICITING
Illegal
BROTHELS
4.2.1 Laws
It is an offence under the Oppression of Women and Children (Special Enactment) Act, 1995
for third parties (e.g., pimps) to import, export, sell or hire a woman for sex work. 63 The
definition of these offences does not include a person who practices sex work, therefore
sex work in private is legal.
The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933 prohibits soliciting in public, which is
punishable by imprisonment for one month or a fine. 64 Sex workers who are soliciting in
public may also be arrested for committing a public nuisance, which is an offence under
Section 290 of the Penal Code. Sex workers can also be arrested under Section 54 of Code
of Criminal Procedure 1898, which allows the police to arrest a person without a warrant
under some ‘suspicious’ conditions. Many male sex workers are arrested and detained for
three to four days without any legal protection under this Section. 65
The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933 creates offences for keeping a brothel or
allowing premises to be used as a brothel, living on the earnings of sex work and procuring
a female for the purpose of sex work. ‘Brothel’ is defined as a place in which two or more
females conduct sex work.
The municipal laws of Dhaka, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Chittagong, Khulna and Bariisal also prohibit
soliciting in public places. 66 For example, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance, 1976
provides that any person who in any street or public place or within sight of, and in such
manner as to be seen or heard from, any street or public place, whether from within any
house or building or not solicits any person for the purposes of prostitution is punishable
with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with a fine. 67 The
Ordinance is also used to prosecute sex workers for ‘being found under suspicious
circumstances between sunset and sunrise.’ 68
62 Expert inputs to the Bangladesh chapter were provided by Dr. Smarajit Jana, DMSC.
63 See also the offence of living on the earnings of prostitution under section 8 of the Suppression of Immoral
Traffic Act, 1933.
64 Section 7.
65 de Beyer J., (ed). (2009), 20 years of HIV in Bangladesh: Experiences and Way Forward, Dhaka: World Bank
and UNAIDS, p.100.
66 Human Rights Watch (2003), Ravaging the Vulnerable: Abuses Against Persons at High Risk of HIV Infection in
Bangladesh, August 2003, Vol. 15, No. 6 (C).
67 Section 74.
68 Section 86.
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