Prostitution in Lebanon is nominally legal and regulated. Cases of child prostitution are known and prosecuted, but no measures are taken to rehabilitate these juveniles. Sex trafficking is a problem in the Lebanon. Street prostitution occurs in the country, the prostitutes are mainly Lebanese or Syrian. The bars are licensed, but not for prostitution.
They usually have 'secret' rooms at the back and the women, mostly Egyptians, Syrians and Sudanese, are controlled by a "Mom". They keep their liquor licenses and a blind eye is turned to the illegal activities because of bribes to the police. Some Lebanese prostitutes work independently from hotels or rented apartments. Male prostitution is on the rise in the country. Super night clubs serve as places of introduction between prostitutes and clients. The clients may chat with an 'artiste' if they buy a bottle of champagne.
During the chat a 'date' may be arranged for the next day. No sexual services are permitted on the premises, and the woman negotiates her own price for the 'date'. The women working in the clubs must be foreign nationals, Lebanese women are not allowed in the clubs. The migrant women must have a contract to enter the country, and are issued with an 'artiste' visa, to which strict conditions are attached. The women must live in a hotel room, often adjacent to or in the same building as the club.
They must be in the hotel between finishing work 5am until 1pm. After 1pm they may leave the hotel on a 'date'. The telephone number and car registration number of the client must be recorded when the women leave the hotel. There are about clubs, mainly in Maameltein. A lot of the women working in them are of East European and North African origin. In , whilst the country was under French control, [11] a new law regulated prostitution.
Prostitutes needed to be registered and were only allowed to work in licensed brothels. To obtain a licence they had to be over 21, not be a virgin and have undergone a medical examination. The law criminalised working anywhere else.
