Romania

Romania's current Penal Code (Law 286/2009) entered into force on 1 February 2014 and removed prostitution as a criminal offence — the old Art 328 of the 1969 Ceaușescu-era code, which carried up to one year of imprisonment, was abolished. Selling sex is now an administrative contravention only. Third-party involvement is still criminal under Codul Penal Art 213 (proxenetism): "determining or facilitating the practice of prostitution, or obtaining material benefits" from another person's prostitution carries 2–7 years imprisonment plus disqualification of certain rights. Law 269/2024 repealed the older aggravated sub-clauses of Art 213 and shifted those scenarios to the trafficking framework (Arts 210–211 and Law 678/2001), where penalties can reach 3–12 years or more. The flagship contemporary case is the DIICOT prosecution of Andrew and Tristan Tate, arrested December 2022 and charged in June 2023; in December 2024 the Bucharest appeals court found procedural irregularities and sent the file back to prosecutors, judicial control was lifted on 6 April 2026, and as of May 2026 no trial has begun.

Bucharest is the dominant market, followed by Constanța, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara and Brașov. Romanian women are consistently the largest single nationality among identified trafficking victims in Italy, Spain, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands; for 2010–2020 authorities recorded 8,985 Romanian trafficking cases, 56% cross-border. The Roma minority is disproportionately affected: GRETA and US TIP reports flag Roma girls "sold" into early marriages that shade into sexual exploitation. Independent workers operate in legal grey zone — the moment another person rents, drives, manages bookings or shares revenue, Art 213 is triggered. The Tate case has made Bucharest visibly more scrutinised, with DIICOT raids on adult-content operations through 2024–2025.

Romania is fully bound by EU GDPR plus Law 190/2018; sex-work platforms must localise data handling. Romanian-language classified sites have faced repeated takedowns; DIICOT now actively traces digital trails under the trafficking framework, so payment processors and proof-of-life content are routine evidence in Art 213 prosecutions.

Romania is an EU member (since 2007) with full freedom of movement, and on 1 January 2025 it became a full Schengen member after the Council's 12 December 2024 decision lifted internal land border checks. Travellers from outside the EU still need standard Schengen visas. The currency is the Romanian leu (RON), not the euro. Some spot checks at land borders may continue under reintroduced internal Schengen controls (Germany, France, Austria) in 2024–2026.

Tryst.link, EscortDirectory / EuroGirlsEscort (regional), local Romanian-language directories (legally fragile under Art 213 if they take a cut), OnlyFans-style platforms (actively investigated when tied to third-party "managers", per Tate case).

• ARAS — harm reduction, HIV/STI services for sex workers
• ANITP — Agenția Națională Împotriva Traficului de Persoane (24h hotline)
• Carusel — harm-reduction NGO (Roma communities + SW + drug users)