Prostitution in the 19th Century

'Words have the power to shape our thinking about human worth in profound ways.' Historian dr. Katie Hemphill said it perfectly in her new book . It reminded me of a publication where women who provided sexual services for payment were consistently referred to as whores . A phrase that in current times has the same negative association as tart, floozy, tramp, fallen woman, or hooker. For that reason, I always preferred: prostitute . But nowadays this word has become synonymous with trafficking and violence towards women. Governments, therefore, have adopted the expression sex worker .  These terms can be found when accessing government records in the archives. It does not mean, however, that through time, the definitions have been similar. For this reason, it is vital to understand past interpretations. How are the women who provided sexual services described in formal Dutch archive resources? 

I was asked to give a talk at the yearly symposium of History Students in the Netherlands   ( Studenten Geschiedenis in Nederland ). It was held in Amsterdam in June of this year. The overall theme was taboos. Below you will find my introduction text and the slides. 

Prostitution was legal in the nineteenth century. As part of the General Local Regulations (AVP), municipalities could determine the regulations on this topic themselves. It is quite a search in a municipal archive to find such an ordinance. So when I came across a bounded collection with no less than forty nineteenth-century prostitution regulations from various municipalities at an online antiquarian bookshop a year ago,  I was overjoyed . My delight disappeared, however, quickly when I noticed the price tag. Shortly afterwards I discussed my beautiful findings with colleague Frank de Jong of the International Institute of Social History (IISH). He immediately had an interest in purchasing the collection and also wanted to scan it and make the data online available. The findings turned out to fit perfectly with the local regulations of various municipalities from the same period that the IISH already owned. The idea of adding and digitising the regulations has recently been real

Where to go for a night in town? In nineteenth-century Amsterdam leaflets with tips on where one could have a 'peek at lady servants' or meet  "greek nymphs" were handed out on the streets. (1) In other metropolia, newsstands offered pocketbooks with addresses and reviews of local brothels and prostitutes. The old guides are still popular. In 2020  The pretty women of Paris , printed in 1883, was sold for  6.000 dollars  at an auction. For historians, these urban pleasure guides are interesting resources. Not because the given reviews provide new insights into what men considered important qualities of  'women of the night'. Those remarks have not changed much during the centuries. What is of interest is where public women and houses were located in a metropolis, the prices of services and descriptions of establishments. Fortunately, the originals can still be viewed in libraries or online and contemporary reprints can be bought at reasonable prices. (2)     

Dan Snow spoke for the compelling history podcast  History Hit   with historian  Julia Laite  on violence against women in nineteenth-century London.  The reason for this interview was the murder of  Sarah Everard  in March of this year. Julia compares the case to  Emma Elizabeth Smith , who suffers the same fate after a visit to a London bar in 1888. The researcher has been conducting historical research for ten years into women who have sold sex in London and the violence they encountered. (1) She concludes that the closing of brothels at the end of the nineteenth century did not reduce violence towards women. On the contrary. It led to an increase against the most vulnerables.    Go to Podcast            (via Google Podcast)        Dark city With economic growth, more and more department stores, entertainment and coffee houses appeared in Late-Victorian London. The changes led to a higher number of upper and middle-class women on the streets: shopping, strolling or visiting a coffe