ABSTRACT
Croatia is a post-transitional Catholic country with rigid gender and sexual norms. Only recently has the country started to build its institutional and legislative framework on gender equality, one which is heavily influenced by the European Union's (EU) conceptualization of gender equality. It is within this context that Croatian prostitution policy is placed. Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, had one of the most sophisticated regulations, which prescribed who could own a brothel, how many sex workers could work in it, and how often they should be medically examined. However, in 1922, concerned with the exploitation of prostitution and the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the Zagreb city council decided to abolish brothels. The Croatian Criminal Code hence criminalizes all prostitution-related activities committed by third parties, and in certain circumstances, clients. Prostitution is still a taboo topic in Croatia, and academic literature is scarce.
