Lebanon — Neighborhoods

Lebanon's legal position is unusual: a 1931 regulation technically permits licensed brothels, but no licences have been issued since the 1970s, and Penal Code Article 523 criminalizes 'secret prostitution' — so in practice the trade is illegal. The documented exception is the 'super nightclub' strip along the Maameltein highway in Jounieh, where venues employ foreign women on artist visas; this system is extensively documented by human-rights organizations as a trafficking vehicle, and patronizing it carries both legal and serious ethical exposure.

Beirut — Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh are the main bar strips, Badaro a quieter restaurant-bar quarter, and Hamra the older mixed district where a freelance scene surfaces in some bars and hotel lounges, expanded visibly by the post-2019 economic collapse. Treat approaches accordingly: economic desperation and trafficking indicators are real here, and Article 523 applies.