Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Regulation of Prostitution in Beyoğlu (1875–1915)

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 46; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263206.2010.492991

1743-7881

Müge Özbek,

Islamic Studies and History

Abstract This study examines the development and nature of the regulation of prostitution in Beyoğlu during the late Ottoman Empire with special emphasis on the way the regulationist regime reinforced existing patterns of class and gender domination. The regulation of prostitution became a matter of urgency in the last decades of the nineteenth century in Istanbul, particularly in Beyoğlu, the cosmopolitan centre of the city. Through this process, the protests of the local residents of the area objecting to the proliferation of prostitution in their neighbourhoods played a crucial role in prompting the governmental authorities to tighten the regulations. Notes 1. For the first studies on this subject, see Z. Toprak, 'İstanbul'da Fuhuş ve Zührevi Hastalıklar, 1914–1933', Tarih ve Toplum, Vol.7, No.39 (1987), pp.31–40; Z. Toprak, 'Fuhuş-Osmanlı Dönemi', in Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (Istanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1993–95), pp.342–5; Z. Toprak, 'Genelevler', in Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (Istanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfi, 1993–95), pp. 392–3. See also R.N. Bali (ed.), The Jews and Prostitution in Constantinople 1854–1922 (Istanbul: The Isis Press, 2008). 2. O.N. Ergin, Mecelle-i Umûr-ı Belediyye, 9 vols. (İstanbul: İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür İşleri Daire Başkanlığı Yayınları, 1995), Vol.6, pp.3296–314. 3. C. Quetel, History of Syphilis (Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 1990); T.O. Ranger and P. Slack, Epidemics and Ideas: Essays on the Historical Perception of Pestilence (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992); K. Oldenburg, '"All the Prostitutes may be Made Subject to Supervision and the Spread of Disease İnfinitely Reduced": Implications of Alexandre Parent-Duchatelet and William Acton's Regulatory Proposals' (unpublished M.A. thesis, Simon Fraser University (Canada), 2006). 4. For studies on regulation, see C. Henriot, Prostitution and Sexuality in Shanghai: A Social History 1849–1949, trans. C. Henriot (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001); J. Harsin, Policing Prostitution in Nineteenth Century Paris (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985); L. Bernstein, Sonia's Daughters: Prostitutes and Their Regulation in Imperial Russia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995); M. Gibson, Prostitution and the State in Italy 1860–1915 (Columbus: Ohio State University Press 1999); P. Howell, 'Race, Space and the Regulation of Prostitution in Colonial Hong Kong', Urban History, Vol.31, No.2 (2004, pp.229–48). V.M. Johnson, 'Defining "Social Evil": Moral Citizenship and Governance in New York City, 1890–1920' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, New School University, 2003); P. Bartley, Prostitution: Prevention and Reform in England, 1860–1914 (New York: Routledge, 2000). 5. For example, see Harsin, Policing Prostitution in Nineteenth Century Paris. 6. K. Karpat, 'The Population and the Social and Economic Transformation of İstanbul: The Ottoman Microcosm', in Ottoman Population, 1830–1914: Demographic and Social (Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), p.104. See also Z. Toprak, 'Tarihsel Nüfusbilim Açısından İstanbul'un Nüfusu ve Toplumsal Topoğrafyası', Dünü ve Bugünüyle Toplum ve Ekonomi, Vol.3 (1992), pp.109–20. 7. D. Quataert, 'The Age of Reforms,1812–1914', in H. İnalcık and D. Quataert (eds.), An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp.759–943. 8. Karpat, 'The Population and the Social and Economic Transformation of İstanbul', p.86. For a discussion of the elite perception and governmental treatment of the urban. 9. For discussions of the elite perception and governmental treatment of the urban poor in the late Ottoman Empire, see M. Ener, Managing Egypt's Poor and The Politics of Benevolence, 1800–1952 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003); F. Ergut, 'Policing the Poor in the Late Ottoman Empire', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.38, No.2 (2002), pp.149–64; N. Özbek, Osmanlıİmparatorluğu'nda Sosyal Devlet: Siyaset, İktidar ve Meşruiyet (1876–1914) (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2002). 10. No statistical data is available on the population of single women in the late Ottoman Empire. For the estimates of the female population in Istanbul, see Karpat, 'The Population and the Social and Economic Transformation of İstanbul'. 11. For a similar discussion see J.M. Fregulia, 'Making Their Own Way: Women of Means in Late Renaissance Milan' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Nevada, Reno, 2007). 12. 'Hizmetçi Kızlar', Sabah, No.4935, 3 July 1903. 13. This example from the daily newspaper Sabah is provided by Nadir Özbek through his discussion of the control of the urban poor in Özbek, Osmanlıİmparatorluğu'nda Sosyal Devlet, pp.82–84. 14. Ibid. 15. For discussions on the control of lower classes and lower class women, see S. Schafer, Children in Moral Danger and the Problem of Government in Third Republic France (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997); R.G. Fuchs, Gender and Poverty in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005); R. Fuchs, Poor and Pregnant in Paris: Strategies for Survival in the Nineteenth Century (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1992). 16. Karpat, 'The Population and the Social and Economic Transformation of İstanbul. 17. N. Akın, 19. Yüzyılın İkinci Yarısında Galata ve Pera (İstanbul: Literatür Yayıncılık, 1998). 18. BOA, A.MKT.MHM, 482/24, 1294.Zilhicce.21 (2 Jan. 1878). 19. O.N. Ergin, Mecelle-i Umûr-ı Belediyye, 9 vols., vol. 3 (İstanbul: İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür İşleri Daire Başkanlığı Yayınları, 1995), 1307–43, Akın, 19. Yüzyılın İkinci Yarısında Galata ve Pera, pp.102–26. 20. Ergin, Mecelle-i Umûr-ı Belediyye, Vol.6, p.3296. 21. Ibid., p.3301. 22. For the full text of the ordinance see 'Altıncı Daire-i Belediyye Dahilinde Bulunan Ba'zı Hususi Hanelerin Hıdemat-ı Sıhhiyesine Dair Ta'limatname', in ibid., pp.3303–6. 23. See note 6. 24. BOA, DH.MKT, 350/71, 1312.06.N (3 March 1895). 25. BOA, DH.MKT, 577/16, 1320.08.Cemazeyilahir (12 Sept. 1902). 26. BOA, DH.MKT, 1637/32, 1306.15.Zilkadde (15 July 1889). 27. Ergin, Mecelle-i Umûr-ı Belediyye, Vol.6, p.3428. 28. BOA, DH.MKT, 577/16, 1320.08.Cemazeyilahir (12 Sept. 1902). 29. Ergin, Mecelle-i Umûr-ı Belediyye, Vol.6, p.3300. 30. H. Alyot, Türkiye'de Zabıta: Tarihi Gelişim ve Bugünkü Durum (Ankara: İçişleri Bakanlığı Yayınları, 1947), pp.570–86. 31. See note 6. 32. BOA, ZB, 385/136, 1322.01.Mayıs (1 May 1906). 33. BOA, ZB, 385/146, 1322.06.Mayıs (19 May 1906). 34. BOA, ZB, 373/98, 1322.07.Haziran (20 June 1906). 35. BOA, ZB, 373/107, 1322.17.Haziran (30 June 1906). 36. BOA, ZB, 374/34, 1322.26.Temmuz (08 Nov. 1906). 37. BOA, ZB, 389/163, 1322.15.Şubat (28 Feb. 1907). 38. BOA, ZB, 389/155, 1322.10.Şubat (23 Feb. 1907). 39. BOA, ZB, 387/146, 1322.14.Eylül (27 Sept. 1906). 40. BOA, ZB, 390/36, 1323.18.Ağustos (31 Aug. 1907). 41. BOA, ZB, 73/55, 1323.11.Eylül (24 Sept. 1907). 42. Alyot, Türkiye'de Zabıta, pp.488–9. 43. BOA, DH.EUM.THR, 46/25, 1328.15.Şaban (22 Aug. 1910). 44. BOA, DH.EUM.THR, 47/36, 1328.21.Şaban (28 Aug. 1910). 45. BOA, ibid. 46. BOA, ibid. 47. BOA, ibid. 48. For an elaboration of the stigmatization of the prostitutes see G. Pheterson, Prostitution Prism (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1996). 49. P. Hubbard and T. Sanders, 'Making Space for Sex Work: Female Street Prostitution and the Production of Urban Space', International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol.27, No.1 (2003), pp.75–89. 50. For discussions on construction of zoning areas for prostitution see A. Hart, '(Re)Constructing a Spanish Red-Light District: Prostitution, Space and Power', in D. Bell and G. Valentine (eds.), Mapping Desires (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), pp.214–28, P. Hubbard, 'Sexuality, Immorality and the City : Red-light Districts and the Marginalisation of Female Street Prostitutes', Gender, Place and Culture, Vol.5, No.1 (1998), pp.55–72, P. Hubbard, 'Sex Zones: Intimacy, Citizenship and Public Space', Sexualities, Vol.4, No.1 (2001), pp.51–71. 51. BOA, DH.EUM.THR, 20/26, 1327.21.Zilkadde (4 Dec. 1909). 52. BOA, DH.EUM.THR, 33/41, 1328.07.Cemazeyilevvel (17 May 1910). 53. BOA, DH.EUM.THR, 46/25, 1328.15.Şaban (22 Aug. 1910) 54. Ibid. 55. BOA, DH.EUM.THR, 47/36, 1328.21.Şaban (28 Aug. 1910). 56. BOA, DH.EUM.KADL, 7/15, 1329.Safer.8 (8 Feb. 1911). 57. BOA, DH.İD, 46/82, 1331.16.Cemazeyyilevvel (23 April 1913). 58. S. Ünver, Dr. Besim Ömer Paşa'nın Hizmetleri, Tıp Tarihimiz Yıllığı (İstanbul: İ.Ü. Tıp Fakultesi Tıp Tarihi Enstitüsü, 1966). 59. BOA, DH.İD, 46/82, 1331.16.Cemazeyyilevvel (23 April 1913). 60. BOA, DH.İD, 65/42, 1331.Zilhicce.26 (26 Nov. 1913). 61. 'Zührevi Hastalıkların Sirayetinin Men'i Hakkında Nizamname', in Alyot, Türkiye'de Zabıta, pp.570–86. 62. See Toprak, 'İstanbul'da Fuhuş ve Zührevi Hastalıklar, 1914–1933'.