Paris in the 1830s-1840s
The regulation of sex work in Paris was not only meant to restrict who engaged in sex work, but also how clients engaged with sex work. This is evident in the memoirs of Céleste de Chabrillan, who was a courtesan, dancer, actress, and briefly a brothel woman in 19th century Paris. Despite being officially registered as a brothel woman and thus officially tolerated by the state, Céleste and her peers were not treated with tolerance. Their behavior was still largely policed, as the state’s continuing negative attitudes towards brothels and prostitution as a whole were expressed in policy.
Céleste’s acquaintance and fellow brothel woman Thérèse describes the impact of the state regulation on brothels on her work as “not easy to explain” as she is “not Thérèse anymore,” but rather, she is “a number.” She does “not follow [her] will anymore” and instead follows “the regulations on a card.” She is unable to go out bareheaded, or without any hair accessories, as “the regulations state that [she] must wear a bonnet.” Similarly, the regulations forbid “go[ing] out during the day,” “walk[ing] down certain esplanades,” “appear[ing] at a window,” and “go[ing] out with an honest woman,” or a respectable lady of society. [1] These regulations reflect the rigidity with which she and her fellow brothel women were treated by society and the extent to which their autonomy was limited. [See an example of this from the police archive]
Regulation and oversight of sex work was carried out almost entirely by the police. The police were in charge of enforcing the weekly visits to the clinic and handling complaints about public solicitation. Any violation of the regulations was dealt with by an internal police court. Women sentenced by this court would be sent to the Petite Force prison, a prison run by the Morals Brigade specifically for prostitutes. In one police document, punishments and fines for women who failed to show up to their weekly health inspections are discussed. Similarly, a letter from 1820, demonstrates how police refined their methods of enforcement over time. Parent Duchâtelet also writes that some health inspections would be performed at police stations or prisons. As all of this was outside the state judicial system, police could round up women for prostitution and arrest them to fufill their daily quotas. [2]
The police enforced health visits are discussed by Parent Duchâtelet in detail. He describes the types of elevated chairs in which these exams were conducted. The chair is to be elevated one meter and have footboards and a step stool in order to permit an attentive examination of the genital area [See Original French]. Parent Duchâtelet also discusses the gentleness and good procedures (la douceur et aux bons procédés) employed by the physicians [See Original French]. Women were never allowed to refuse these required examinations which were often invasive. As Parent Duchâtelet focuses on syphilis, his discussion of other ailments is limited, though it was in the economic interest of brothel owners to provide medical help for their workers.[3] However, this level of medical care is not given to Céleste when she is ill with smallpox.
While Céleste’s memoirs do not touch on abortion, Parent Duchâtelet cites this as another example of medical abuse registered women faced. He writes that madams would force their residents to have unsafe abortions (often conducted by madams or other residents) and that “there are only 3 or 4 madams in Paris who will take their girls to the doctor and keep them at home until they’re healed.” [See Original French]. [4]
However, brothel women fared better than other types of filles publiques as, according to Duchâtelet’s research, maisons des tolérances were subject to inspections more frequently than filles isolées (isolated and largely unregistered girls). Similarly, he notes that improvements made in sanitary surveillance helped brothel women more than other, more isolated types of prostitutes [See Original French]. [5] At the same time though, the regulation of brothel women did not exhonerate them from experiencing stigma.
[1] Chabrillan, Celeste Venard de. 2002. Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-Century Paris. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 41-2.
[2] Harsin, Jill. Policing Prostitution in Nineteenth-Century Paris. 1985. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press. p. 1-6. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.04506.0001.001.
[3] Parent-Duchatelet, Alexandre Jean-Baptise. 1836. On Prostitution in the City of Paris . London: Chez J.-B. Baillière. p. 93.
[4] Parent-Duchatelet, Alexandre Jean-Baptise. 1836. On Prostitution in the City of Paris . London: Chez J.-B. Baillière. Trans. Julia Butterfield. p. 457-8.
[5] Parent-Duchatelet, Alexandre Jean-Baptise. 1836. On Prostitution in the City of Paris . London: Chez J.-B. Baillière. p. 105.