Is selling sex criminalised?
Selling sex is legal in Malawi. There is a law against "any common prostitute behaving in a disorderly or indecent manner in any public place". There are also vagrancy laws used against sex workers.
Is organising/managing criminalised?
Yes, living on the earnings and brothel-keeping criminalised. Colonial era laws in line with UK legislation.
What other laws are used disproportionately against sex workers?
S.184c of Criminal Code most often used to arrest and prosecute sex workers - criminalises people "found in or near or upon any premises or in any road or highway or any place adjacent thereto or in any public place at such time and under such circumstances as to lead to the conclusion that such person is there for an illegal or disorderly purpose". Southern African Litigation Centre note that the police use this law to arrest sex workers even though selling sex is actually legal.
Is there mandatory HIV/STI testing?
No
Is there mandatory registration?
No
Is sex work recognised as work?
No
Is sex work decriminalised with limited regulation?
No
Sources/further reading
Penal Code of Malawi - https://www.unodc.org/tldb/pdf/Malawi_Penal_Code.pdf;
Memorandum on s.146 of Malawi Penal Code by Southern African Litigation Centre - http://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/1/wp-content/uploads/2013…
Southern African Litigation Centre, Know Your Rights: Sex Work and the Law in Malawi - https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/2017/02/24/know-your-rig…
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