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THREAD: Venereal Disease and the Prostitution Policy of the British Raj
full post (with much more detail, sources, and links) https://saipriyac27.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/venereal-disease-and-the-prostitution-policy-of-the-british-raj/
full post (with much more detail, sources, and links) https://saipriyac27.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/venereal-disease-and-the-prostitution-policy-of-the-british-raj/
In 19th century India, venereal disease was a huge problem among British troops. the average annual admission of British troops to hospitals for venereal infections, predominantly syphilis/gonorrhoea was over 200/1000; by 1895 this reached over 500/1000.
A viceroy writing to the secretary of state for India, acknowledged that “the strength of the British Army in India as a fighting machine has been much impaired by these diseases”.
The likely explanation was that majority of British soldiers sought prostitutes, a source of infection.
among Indian soldiers, the incidence of venereal disease was much lower; in 1866, the rates of infection for British and Indian troops were 218 and 54/1000 respectively
among Indian soldiers, the incidence of venereal disease was much lower; in 1866, the rates of infection for British and Indian troops were 218 and 54/1000 respectively
Indigenous Indian troops consistently demonstrated far lower rates of venereal admission than the Europeans, and their “immunity” was a cause of some resentment.
it was suggested that native troops concealed their condition or resorted to “quacks” for indigenous remedies,
it was suggested that native troops concealed their condition or resorted to “quacks” for indigenous remedies,
or that they had possibly become partially immune through frequent exposure.
Nobody would entertain the idea that Indian soldiers might just be less sexually promiscuous than the British.
Nobody would entertain the idea that Indian soldiers might just be less sexually promiscuous than the British.
Their assumption was that diseases caught in the tropics were “more ravaging” than those acquired in the “gentler” climates of Europe, affecting the “refined white constitution” with greater severity, and that all native Indian women were “infected”.
Military authorities had long accepted that an outlet for their soldiers’ sexual energy was essential.
The provision of women—registered, inspected, and available—was seen as a method of exercising control over their troops, and was far preferred over the alternative –
The provision of women—registered, inspected, and available—was seen as a method of exercising control over their troops, and was far preferred over the alternative –
increase in masturbation, seeking prostitutes who were potential sources of infection, or homosexuality, which was particularly dreaded.
The imposition of section 377 starting in 1860 that punished sodomy, buggery, and bestiality as offenses wasn’t enough.
The imposition of section 377 starting in 1860 that punished sodomy, buggery, and bestiality as offenses wasn’t enough.
The threat of homosexuality, not only as a vice but also as potential damage to the reputation of the empire - was cited to justify the making available of prostitutes to the armed forces.
authorities conspired at setting up a system of licensed brothels, issuing license cards
authorities conspired at setting up a system of licensed brothels, issuing license cards
The Cantonments Act of 1864 and the Indian Contagious Diseases Act of 1868 jointly organized the sex trade within military cantonments and enabled supervision, registration, and inspection of prostitute women in major Indian cities and seaports.
Indian prostitutes were segregated in specially designated enclosures called ‘chaklas’ (brothels) within the cantonments, where there was also a lock hospital.
Around 12-15 native women were assigned to regiments of about a thousand soldiers
Around 12-15 native women were assigned to regiments of about a thousand soldiers
A number of women of all castes were often pressured to leave their homes or abandoned or abducted, only to be sold to the cantonment magistrates and forced to move into these chaklas.
Outside of the cantonment and traditionally in Indian society, prostitutes were not treated as “outcastes”, rather, they enjoyed a social status, unlike prostitutes in Britain
the women were obliged to undergogo a periodic (weekly/fortnightly) genital examination, often with a vaginal speculum, and an inexperienced physician using it (which can be a painful and degrading experience).
Registered prostitutes in chaklas were called ‘Lal Kurti’ or “queen’s ladies”, and areas of regimental brothels were “lal-bazaars”. The chaklas were supervised by superintendents or brothel-keepers/madams called ‘mahaldarnis’, who were granted official permits to procure women.
The price of the visits of soldiers to the chakla was fixed by the military at such a low rate that they would scarcely pass up the opportunity.
brothers and husbands who might be bent upon rescuing their female family members were strictly not allowed near the chakla
brothers and husbands who might be bent upon rescuing their female family members were strictly not allowed near the chakla
Many cruelties were inflicted upon the women kept in these cantonment brothels by the British. They were often physically abused by soldiers, subjected to cruelties in their drunken states, and at times, even murdered.
Women were imprisoned in ‘Lock Hospitals’ for indefinite periods of time if found diseased; expelled if seriously diseased, often with their half-British children, to starve, spread disease among the natives; and dismissed when too old to be “sufficiently attractive”
impoverished and receiving a pittance fixed by the military kept many of them on the verge of starvation.
Efforts to teach the soldiers self-control had already failed miserably, as evidenced by the “Report of the Army Health Association”, printed at Meerut, in 1892.
Efforts to teach the soldiers self-control had already failed miserably, as evidenced by the “Report of the Army Health Association”, printed at Meerut, in 1892.
The brown Indian prostitute, subservient to the British male, was a paradigm of racial superiority - a critical component to the assertion of European power.
In this regard, the presence of few European prostitutes in India was unnerving to the British;
In this regard, the presence of few European prostitutes in India was unnerving to the British;
the symbolic servitude of a white woman to the brown man would radically and fatally undermine the basis of colonial rule.
The European women were tolerated in the hope that British troops would preferred engaging with them instead of with native Indian women.
The European women were tolerated in the hope that British troops would preferred engaging with them instead of with native Indian women.
The raj had to come to terms with the dismaying possibility that some white women might have sex with Indian men – an idea that seemed abhorrent. Colonial ideas of sexuality were mapped along racial lines – prostitution by white women was destabilizing to established supremacy.
To prevent the natives from buying the services of European women, the Indian Contagious Diseases Act instituted two classes of brothels occupied by native women: the first class comprised of those reserved for British men and a second class of those reserved for indigenous men.
An Indian woman could be arrested on suspicion of solicitation even if she was simply walking down the street, if in case she was unregistered and didn’t carry a “card”. She would then be harassed, brought before the Cantonment magistrate, and forced to register as a prostitute.
Police would often take large bribes, threatening women of this fate.
Indian attitudes and tolerance towards prostitution, trafficking of women and girls, and segregated brothels seem to reach a crescendo during the 1910s. Violence against women was increasing -
Indian attitudes and tolerance towards prostitution, trafficking of women and girls, and segregated brothels seem to reach a crescendo during the 1910s. Violence against women was increasing -
women facing domestic violence who deserted their husbands found themselves trapped in Kolkata’s brothels. Two cases that drew particular public attention and exposed the horrors of the brothel system happened in 1918.
One was of a young girl of 14 abducted from a festival and forced into prostitution, and the other was of a corrupt Inspector General that offer protection to a brothel that regularly abducted young girls.
Brothels were associated with multiple criminal activities - sodomy, trafficking, and the scandalous sexualization of Indian society, while doing absolutely nothing by way of control of venereal diseases.
Whatever the incidence of STDs, the British used the “health of their troops” as justification for the imposition of western ideas of commercialization of sex, the vile debasement of respectable women, and imposition of sexual control as a central plank of imperial policy.
Touting their misplaced sense of “western morality”, and contrasting themselves from the native “savages” – a policy by which the revered “Devadasi women” of temples were criminalized and outlawed, after classifying them as complicit in an “illegitimate form of prostitution”.
According to the British, there was no distinction between the indigenous courtesan tradition and the British System of commercial prostitution.
The fact that prostitutes were “accepted” in Indian society somehow proved the inferiority of Indian morals, in their view.
The fact that prostitutes were “accepted” in Indian society somehow proved the inferiority of Indian morals, in their view.
Their monolithic view of Indian culture and a complete lack of understanding of Indian society led to the imposition of policies that were incompatible and incongruent with the Indian ethos.
Imperialist Britain’s rigid views of morality rooted in Christian orthodoxy, superimposed onto a free thinking Indian society, along with central role of the military in their expansionist agenda resulted in one of the largest scale human trafficking operations in modern history.
