Prostitution in Istanbul

Prostitution in early modern Ottoman Istanbul was a regular feature of the city and was carried out by women from all religious backgrounds, Christian, Jewish and Muslim alike. In the early years of the Ottoman Empire, prostitution was subject to taxation, but that was discontinued and a separate code for prostitution was introduced which stated that “undesirable” women (prostitutes) could be banished from cities. Throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, prostitutes were regularly banished from Istanbul to the interior of Anatolia or to islands in the Mediterranean, and imprisonment was also used as a form of discipline.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Gender Equality

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions