Review article
The regulation of prostitution in Osijek in the late 19th and early 20th century: the Rules for organization and supervision of prostitution from 1896 and the Brothel rules from 1911
Sergej Filipović
Abstract
The attempt to regulate prostitution dates back to ancient times. This paper is concerned with the regulation of prostitution in Osijek in the late 19th and early 20th century. The paper is based on archival records; the focus of interest are the Rules for Organization and Supervision of Prostitution in the free royal town of Osijek from 1896 and the Brothel Rules in the free royal town of Osijek from 1911. Similar regulations existed in other Croatian towns and contained the registration and health control dana of prostitutes, data on their rights and liabilities, accommodation data in brothels as well as data on the rights and liabilities of brothel owners. As nothing has been written on prostitution in Osijek, the objective of this paper is to present attempts to control prostitution and to supply a comprehensive context for the regulation of prostitution in other European countries. The prostitution problem came down to two basic issues: the health and the moral issue, whereas the issue of workers’ rights arose a bit later. Most of the European countries in the 19th century and the early 20th century had characteristic prostitution regulations, i.e. the prescribed control of public prostitution by the police. This pertained also to the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and to Osijek which followed the prevailing European tendencies with respect to the regulation of prostitution.
Keywords
regulation of prostitution; rule books; norm enactment; brothels; Osijek
Hrčak ID:
130455
URI
Publication date:
1.10.2014.
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