Prostitution is legal in Macau[2] 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.[3] Street prostitution is illegal but sex work in a massage parlor is considered to be de facto legal.[4] The city has a large sex trade despite there being no official red-light district.[5] 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.[6] Most hotels, however, have suspected prostitutes removed from the premises.[7] Many of the city's sidewalks and underpasses are littered with prostitutes' calling cards.[2]
Macau's economy is based largely on tourism with significant input from gambling casinos, drugs and prostitution[8] which has led to the city being called a Sin City.[1] As the Macau administration relies heavily on taxes from prostitution and gambling,[2] the authorities have traditionally been reluctant to reduce the size of the sex industry.[8] The trade is said to be controlled by Chinese organized crime groups[9] with different gangs made up of people from different provinces in China, a system which has led to violent clashes.[10]
cracks
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Prostitution is legal and common; however, procurement and the operation of a brothel are illegal. Nevertheless, the SAR had a large sex trade, including brothels, most of which were believed to be controlled by Chinese organized crime groups, and many of those exploited by the trade were women.