Prostitution in Jordan is technically illegal, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] but in practice, tolerated, with authorities turning a blind eye to the act. Red-light districts are rare in the country, although most cities have "cruising areas". Local residents have tried to stop prostitution in the area.
In , in an attempt to limit the number of prostitutes in Jordan , Jordan's Ministry of Interior announced a special visa scheme for women aged 17β40 travelling alone from Ukraine, Estonia , Russia, Bulgaria , Moldova , Tunisia, Algeria , Morocco, Belarus , Uzbekistan and Armenia.
Protests from the tourist industry resulted in the scheme being withdrawn. Jordan is known for sex tourism within the Middle East. Some Syrian refugees in Jordan have been reported to be working as prostitutes, [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] including in the Zaatari refugee camp. During the era of slavery in Jordan , prostitution was connected to slavery. The Islamic Law formally prohibited prostitution.
However, since the principle of concubinage in Islam in Islamic Law allowed a man to have intercourse with his female slave, prostitution was practiced by a pimp selling his female slave on the slave market to a client, who was allowed to have intercourse with her as her new owner, and who after intercourse returned his ownership of her to her pimp on the pretext of discontent, which was a legal and accepted method for prostitution in the Islamic world.
Jordan is a source and destination country for adults and children subjected to sex trafficking. Syrian refugees in Jordan continue to be highly vulnerable to trafficking. There have been reported cases of Syrian refugee women and girls sold into "temporary" or forced marriages to Jordanians and men from the Persian Gulf for the purpose of forced commercial sex.
