Singapore

Prostitution itself is not criminalised in Singapore, but Part XI of the Women's Charter 1961 (Cap. 353) makes most surrounding activity an offence. §146 (living on the earnings of prostitution / pimping) and §148 (brothel-keeping) each carry up to 5 years' imprisonment and a S$100,000 fine following the Women's Charter (Amendment) Act 2019, which also expanded the statutory definition of "brothel" to cover any place advertised or represented as offering prostitution. §146A, introduced via the 2019 amendments, criminalises operating a remote-communication service that offers, facilitates, organises, or supervises sexual services for payment — effectively banning escort-style online advertising platforms based in Singapore. Public solicitation is an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act and the Women's Charter. Enforcement is led by the Specialised Crime Branch of CID together with the Bedok Police Division (which covers Geylang), supported by ICA, HSA, and MOM.

The country's only de facto red-light district is Geylang, along numbered lorongs off Geylang Road — historically the even-numbered lorongs 4 through 20, with concentrations around Lor 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18 and parts of Desker Road / Keong Saik. Licensed "fishtank" brothels sit alongside budget hotels and dense CCTV coverage. Health screening is compulsory at the DSC Clinic; workers receive a yellow-coloured health card, must reside in their assigned brothel, surrender passports to police, may not solicit outside the premises, may not date Singaporean men, and work up to six days a week. Multi-agency raids are frequent: 13 men and 30 women were investigated after a 10-day Geylang sweep in November 2025, 20+ arrested in Joo Chiat/Geylang operations in July 2025, and 316 women arrested across island-wide anti-vice raids in May–June 2025. Project X estimates ~4,200 female sex workers active at any time, of whom only 800–1,000 hold valid Yellow Cards.

§146A criminalises operating online platforms that offer or facilitate paid sex from within Singapore, and IMDA blocks a range of adult and classifieds sites at network level. The Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) governs handling of client data; storing client PII inside Singapore against a sex-work business carries real exposure under both PDPA and §146A.

Singapore immigration (ICA) is among the strictest in the region; biometric capture is universal and overstayers face caning. A foreign national entering on a Social Visit Pass and engaging in paid sex work commits an offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990 as well as the Women's Charter; the standard outcome is arrest, fine, deportation, and a 3-year to life re-entry ban. The Yellow Card route is the only lawful path for the five eligible nationalities and is administered directly by SPF — not via a tourist visa.

No lawful domestic advertising channel — §146A captures Singapore-hosted classifieds and escort directories. Off-platform discovery happens via Telegram and overseas-hosted listings.

• Project X Singapore — only NGO supporting sex workers (founded 2008)
• AWARE — Sexual Assault Care Centre
• DSC Clinic (Department of STI Control, National Skin Centre)