The History of Prostitution

[5] While most European countries were at the time developing measures to contain the disease, this was not the case in North America as social stigma against syphilis was too strong to even acknowledge it.

[1] The only ones who observed this increase were the staff of Blackwell's Island, the only place in which syphilis was treated, and particularly William W. Sanger who was the responsible physician for the treatment.

[1] Concerned by this increase and overwhelmed by the number of patients, the Board of Governors of the Almshouse of Blackwell's Island issued a request to investigate the extent, origins, and consequences of syphilis in New York City on January 23, 1855.

The request was directed to William W. Sanger who, being the physician who treated the syphilis patients on Blackwell's Island, was deemed the expert on this topic.

They were not as strongly stigmatized as other kinds of prostitutes, and had more freedom than the virtuous women who were not allowed to appear unveiled in public, attend the theater, or express philosophical thoughts.

Especially public institutions such as baths, taverns, shops, or the circus were full of prostitutes, male and female, looking for opportunities to earn extra money from visitors.

Thus, prostitutes were no longer considered irredeemable, but attempts were made to convert them to a virtuous life with the promise of complete forgiveness of their former sins.

The Christians, however, prosecuted men who attempted to encourage or force women to engage in a life of prostitution, and punished them severely.

[1] A small note is made about aboriginal northern European civilizations, in which women were obligated to chastity, and prostitution as a concept was effectively unknown.

Europe had taken over the spirit of the late Roman empire, according to which the greatest evil lay in those who introduced virtuous women to prostitution.

As such, women could only enter a life of prostitution out of their own will and any act of procuring was punished with torture, public humiliation, or death.

Prostitutes who were diagnosed with a venereal disease were immediately removed from the brothel and brought to the doctor's institution where they received treatment for their condition.

Prostitutes generally had to work harder and made less money than in other countries and diseases were more widespread - also among underaged - and treatment was barely accessible.

[1] Sanger also makes not of the church, pointing out that celibacy was not existent in the Middle Ages and that churchmen regularly sought out prostitutes to satisfy their urges even if they did not admit it.

Sanger explains that the native Americans of Middle and South America generally showed an open attitude toward sex in which infidelity and unchastity were common occurrences.

For the native Americans of North America, he paints a different picture: In most tribes, women were seen merely as men's property, and had to serve and obey their husband, who had to buy them from their father.

Most of these societies showed structures comparable to the North Americans, treating women only as male property who had to work for their husbands while the men usually engaged in polygamy.

Indonesians and Borneans were the exception, showing patterns more comparable to the South Americans in which women were free, sex was treated as an open topic, and prostitution was common with only minimal stigmatization.

Sanger uses the word "seducing" for the occurrence of a man who would make a woman believe he was in love with her until she would run off with him only to abandon her after receiving sexual or other favors from her.

He explains that many prostitutes are killed in an act of hate and for those who are not the mental anguish resulting from immense social stigma drains them to the point of death.

He then concludes his book by suggesting remedial measures to contain this disease: As the European examples have shown, attempts at prohibiting or eradicating prostitution are useless if not counterproductive.

The church saying that syphilis is a punishment for sin is hypocritical as delirium tremens, caused by excessive drinking, is treated without question.

Finally, there need to be changes in the public mentality: Disrespectful and distrustful treatment of women in the workplace makes it more likely for them to fall into prostitution.

Among them, for example, was an article from the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science in 1859 which shuns Sanger for trying to humanify such an unvirtuous group of people.

Sanger was the first to point out that it was for the most part not seduction or rape that brought women into a life of prostitution but that many did so out of inclination or economic reasons.

This idea contradicted the way in which women had been viewed before: Inherently pure, non-sexual, and virtuous, such that only a man could corrupt a woman to live the life of a prostitute.

His empirical approach to studying a social issue had been unknown before and Sanger received a lot of credit for his innovative method.

Some movements of the later 19th century tackling poverty, employment, women's rights, or public health made reference to Sanger's book claiming to build on his findings.

[6] Generally however, not much information on or reference to the book can be found, indicating that its effect overall was small and his suggestions on how to improve the situation of prostitution and syphilis were not pursued further.

In 1864, the United Kingdom passed the Contagious Disease Act, in which prostitution was acknowledged and the health and hygiene of its practices were enforced.