In Malta selling sex in private is not an offence, but almost everything around it is criminalised by the White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance (Cap. 63): soliciting or loitering in public (up to six months' imprisonment), brothel-keeping, letting premises and living on another's earnings, with a statutory presumption against anyone living with or habitually accompanying a sex worker. Researchers report that courts have treated sex workers sharing a flat as brothel-keeping. Buying is legal except from minors or knowingly from trafficking victims. The government announced in 2019 that it would decriminalise prostitution and regulate massage parlours and gentlemen's clubs, without legalising brothels. A public debate between decriminalisation and Nordic-model advocates continued into 2023, but the reform has stalled and no bill has been tabled. Source: Prostitution Laws (prostitutionlaws.org), https://prostitutionlaws.org/countries/malta/, reviewed 2026-11-03, CC BY 4.0.