Argentina follows an abolitionist model. Law 12.331 of 1936 prohibits establishing houses or premises where prostitution is practised or incited, and punishes those who keep, administer or run them. Since Law 26.842 of 2012 the Penal Code punishes whoever promotes or facilitates the prostitution of a person, and whoever economically exploits it, with four to six years even if the person consents, and five to ten with deception, violence, abuse or other aggravating circumstances. Decree 936 of 2011 prohibits, by any medium, advertisements that promote sexual offers or seek people for the sex trade, enforced by a monitoring office in the Ministry of Justice. Selling and buying are not federal crimes, but local codes regulate public soliciting: in the City of Buenos Aires, ostensibly offering or seeking sexual services in unauthorised public spaces is a contravention. Source: Prostitution Laws (prostitutionlaws.org), https://prostitutionlaws.org/countries/argentina/, reviewed 2026-11-04, CC BY 4.0.