Macau Street

Prostitution is legal in Macau unlike in mainland China, because the city is a special administrative region of the country. However, operating a brothel and procuring are both illegal in Macau, with the latter punishable by a maximum jail sentence of 8 years. Street prostitution is illegal but sex work in a massage parlor is considered to be de facto legal. The city has a large sex trade despite there being no official red-light district. In addition to street prostitution, prostitutes work in low-rent buildings, massage parlours and illegal brothels, and the casinos, nightclubs, saunas and some of the larger hotels. Most hotels, however, have suspected prostitutes removed from the premises. Many of the city's sidewalks and underpasses are littered with prostitutes' calling cards. Macau's economy is based largely on tourism with significant input from gambling casinos, drugs and prostitution which has led to the city being called a Sin City. As the Macau administration relies heavily on taxes from prostitution and gambling, the authorities have traditionally been reluctant to reduce the size of the sex industry. The trade is said to be controlled by Chinese organized crime groups with different gangs made up of people from different provinces in China, a system which has led to violent clashes.