Prostitution in Russia’s Asian Possessions in the Last Third of the 19th ‒ Early 20th Century

Abstract

The article deals with the phenomenon of prostitution in the Asian regions of the Russian Empire in the last third of the 19th — early 20th century. The article discusses the unique details of the organization of the sphere of commercial sex after the arrival of the Russian administration and laws in the cities of Central Asia. The study requires analyzing the causes of this social deviation, identifying the social status of prostitutes before they join the profession, demonstrating their national and gender-age composition. To do this, we used sources of personal origin created by contemporaries of the era, who directly observed changes in Central Asian society in the late 1870s — early 20th century, as well as statistical information, primarily materials of the First General Population Census of the Russian Empire. The legalization of paid sex services in Central Asia has significantly changed the daily life of the local population. Women who until then sold their bodies secretly were able to legally stay in brothels, receive guarantees of payment for services and protection from physical abuse by clients. Open access to Russian recreational traditions compelled many local men to reconsider the strict moral norms regulated by religion, so for them drinking alcohol in the company of prostitutes became quite commonplace in the cities of Central Asia in the early 20th century.