Is a Sex Party Legal? What Courts in Paris, Calgary and Istanbul Actually Punished in 2024–2026

People who type "is a sex party legal" into a search bar usually want two things: will I get arrested, and what happens to the host. Over the past three years, courts on three continents have answered. The answers differ by country, but what the judges actually examined was strikingly consistent. Did money change hands, and was there a business behind it?

Paris: everyone consented, and it still closed

From the summer of 2023, a basement in the 15th arrondissement hosted paid gangbang parties. The operating company, Z Machine, ran it under the name "La Factory." Each participating woman set the terms of her own night. Her lawyers called it "a sexual concierge service where women determine the nature" of the event.

On 21 January 2026 the Paris police prefect ordered it permanently closed. On 9 February the Paris administrative court suspended that order, citing participant consent and the absence of public exposure. But on 15 July 2026 the Conseil d'État, France's highest administrative court, reversed the suspension and confirmed the closure. Its reasoning reached back to the 1995 Morsang-sur-Orge ruling, the so-called "dwarf-tossing" case: an activity can be banned as contrary to human dignity even when the person involved consents. (Village Justice, 21 Jul 2026)

The same France had, on 6 November 2025, written a definition of consent into its criminal code for the first time. Consent must be free, prior, specific and revocable, and silence is not consent. (Légifrance, Law 2025-1057) A country that just defined consent in law closed a consensual party. The key was not consent. It was commerce. La Factory sold tickets, was a registered company, and owed €16,392 in back rent.

Calgary: have your parties, but don't call it a club

In Calgary, Canada, Matthew Mills had hosted group sex parties at his home since 2010 under the name "Club Ménage." Twenty to fifty people came every other week; tickets were $30. The city issued its first compliance order in 2019. Mills challenged the land-use bylaw as unconstitutional, arguing that "land use planning has no place in the bedrooms of the nation."

In May 2024 a judge settled it in a 29-page decision. The parties may continue. The commercial name and the commercial operation — the "club" — may not. (CBC News, 10 May 2024) The court left private gatherings of adults alone. What it stopped was the moment they started to look like a business.

Istanbul: an 11-year sentence request, then acquittal

On 28 December 2024 police raided a BDSM party in Kadıköy, Istanbul. Two organizers who had sold tickets through social media and a website under the name "Kinky Turkey" were charged with indecency and producing and distributing obscene material. Twenty-three people were present. Prosecutors asked for six and a half to eleven years for each defendant. (Cumhuriyet, 23 Jan 2025)

On 21 April 2025 the court acquitted both. The conduct charged, it found, is not defined as a crime in the Turkish penal code. One defendant told the court he had "only organized a New Year's party." (Hürriyet, 21 Apr 2025) An acquittal — but the raid, the seizures and four months of proceedings were real.

Rovigo and Leuven: what courts really look for

A swingers club in Rovigo, Italy, was registered as a non-profit members' association and received the tax benefits that come with it. A February 2025 raid by the financial police found something else: anyone could walk in by paying cash at the door, and all seven staff — bartenders, DJ, security, cloakroom — were unregistered workers. (Ultima Ora Live, 27 Feb 2025) The charges were about tax and labour law, not sex.

In January 2026 the criminal court in Leuven, Belgium, sentenced a couple to 40 months in prison and roughly €400,000 in fines for running at least 44 paid "sex parties" in their basement. Men paid €250–300 to enter; eleven women were paid €350–600 per night, ten of them undocumented. (VRT NWS, 27 Jan 2026) That was not a sex-party case. It was a prostitution and trafficking case.

In Taichung, Taiwan, a woman who recruited male participants online for a motel party in March 2024 collected a total of NT$42,000 from seven men. In March 2025 a court sentenced her to three months for "providing a venue for sexual transactions for profit." (Storm Media, 17 Mar 2025)

Six courts, one test

• Paris, La Factory (2026) — Money: Ticket sales · Sign / business: Company, permanent venue · Outcome: Closure confirmed
• Calgary, Club Ménage (2024) — Money: $30 tickets · Sign / business: "Club" branding · Outcome: Parties allowed, club banned
• Istanbul, Kinky Turkey (2025) — Money: Ticket sales · Sign / business: Social-media promotion · Outcome: Acquitted — no such crime
• Rovigo (2025) — Money: Cash at the door · Sign / business: Fake non-profit · Outcome: Tax and labour violations
• Leuven (2026) — Money: Entry fees, paid women · Sign / business: Underground business · Outcome: 40 months in prison
• Taichung (2025) — Money: NT$6,000 per man · Sign / business: Online recruitment · Outcome: 3 months in prison

In none of the six cases was the fact of consenting adults meeting privately for sex itself punished. Everything that was punished or shut down sat at the point where money flowed and the gathering took the shape of a business. Some countries, like Turkey, have no offence to charge at all. Others, like France, will block a business on "dignity" grounds regardless of consent.

How ZAVOS reads this news

ZAVOS city communities were built on the inside of that line from the start. No money changes hands at member meetups. Venue and food costs are split evenly among those who attend, hosts are unpaid, and any form of paid participation is banned. There is no sign on the door. A meetup is a private gathering of people who passed member screening, and the location is never published.

This is not a device to dodge the law. It is a decision to stand, from day one, exactly where these rulings point. The women of La Factory setting their own terms looks a lot like a ZAVOS rule. The one difference was the ticket.

Frequently asked questions

Do participants get charged? In none of the six cases above was a participant criminally punished. Enforcement focused on organizers, operators and procurers. Identity checks and questioning at the scene do happen.

Does collecting money make it a business? Calgary is the boundary case. The problem was less the $30 ticket than the permanent, branded "club." Courts treat sharing actual costs differently from making a profit.

If consent is clear, am I safe? France's highest administrative court said no. Consent is necessary, not sufficient. Once something becomes a business, other legal doctrines take over.

What about my country? This article covers six jurisdictions. Each ZAVOS city community sets its rules under local law, decided by that city's hosts. See the city page.

Sources are linked in the text. ZAVOS Magazine does not provide legal advice.