Prostitution in North Macedonia is legal, though with various restrictions, and common.

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ...

estimate there are 3588 prostitutes in the country. The Macedonian government is trying to clamp down on prostitution. STAR-STAR (Association for support of marginalised workers) is a sex worker led support group. Its Executive Board is exclusively made up of sex workers. STAR-STAR was the first sex workers collective in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. The country is a major transit point for prostitution to the west. The trafficking of women for sex is worth billions in North Macedonia and is considered to be run primarily by

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n gangsters. The reputed ' kingpin' of sex trafficking, Dilaver Bojku, was murdered by a close range gunshot to the head in August 2017.

Legal situation

Activities related to prostitution are prohibited in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

by both the ''Law on Misdemeanours Against the Public Order and Peace'' and the ''Criminal Law 1996''.

Soliciting Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...

in a public place is prohibited by article 19 of the Law on Misdemeanours. The article also prohibits providing space for an act of prostitution. As restaurants, bars and hotels are defined as public places, owners of such places can be fined if prostitution occurs on the premises. Sex in public is also prohibited. Article 191 of the Criminal Law prohibits third party involvement, such as procuring,

pimping Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

and profiting from the prostitution of others. Law enforcement is corrupt, and often violent towards sex workers. In a 2007 study reported 82.4% of sex workers had been assaulted by the police.

Sex trafficking

North Macedonia is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Women and girls in North Macedonia are subjected to sex trafficking within the country in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. Foreign victims subjected to sex trafficking in North Macedonia typically originate from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

, particularly Albania,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Citizens of North Macedonia and foreign victims transiting North Macedonia are subjected to sex trafficking in Southern, Central, and Western Europe. Migrants and refugees, particularly women and unaccompanied minors, travelling or being smuggled through North Macedonia are vulnerable to trafficking. Students are vulnerable to false employment promises in other European countries. Traffickers frequently bribe police and labour inspectors. Police have been investigated and convicted for complicity in human trafficking. Articles 418(a) and (d) of the criminal code prohibit all forms of trafficking and prescribe a minimum penalty of four years imprisonment for trafficking adults and 12 years imprisonment for trafficking children. In December 2015, the government deleted article 191(a) on child prostitution, which had allowed the prosecution of child sex traffickers for a lesser offence, and amended article 418(d). The government investigated one sex trafficking case involving six suspects for sex and labour trafficking of children, compared to zero investigations in 2015. The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) is an agency within the United States Department of State charged with investigating and creating programs to prevent human trafficking both within the United States and internation ...

ranks North Macedonia as a ' Tier 2' country.

References

External links

STAR-STAR
(Sex workers organisation) {{Europe in topic, Prostitution in Society of North Macedonia