Prostitutes

This short article deals with the problems the prostitutes were causing in Aden in the years 1905-1912. The first point to make is that prostitution at that time was not illegal, or rather as practised by the category ‘Public Prostitutes’ it was legal. These were women known to the police and registered as prostitutes. By and large they lived together in blocks of housing, paying rent to a landlord but not controlled by pimps. The other category was ‘Private Prostitutes’; these plied for money under the aegis of their landlord. They were often married women, with their husband acting as their pimp. They were illegal and if it could be proved that they were prostitutes they were brought before the courts and habitual offenders were deported.

In Sheikh Othman the problem by 1907 was that there was not sufficient control of the public prostitutes, principally because they were not concentrated in a specific area. In the opinion of the Resident, Major General de Brath, a set of houses needed to be set aside in Sheikh Othman, as in every bazaar in India, for prostitutes to live in. He also wanted them to be better controlled. He had said this in April and the following month the Principal Medical Officer reported that venereal disease was prevalent in Sheikh Othman, with 11 prostitutes under treatment at the Dispensary. On 18 May Sheikh Othman was placed out of bounds to all British troops.

The officer responsible for Sheikh Othman, known as the Superintendent, was Lieutenant Meek. He addressed the problem by getting respectable people to vacate two blocks in Section D of the ‘village’, as it was still being referred to. He collected there all the known public prostitutes, some 35 in number. He also said he had the names of a further 29 private prostitutes and some of these he would be recommending for deportation. Of possible interest to followers of ‘Who do you think you are?’ one name catches the eye. One Abdulla Abdul Hamza applied to build two blocks for private prostitutes at his own expense. This was not proceeded with as the site could only be offered unconditionally.

Meek began to keep a register of public prostitutes in Sheikh Othman, with a return being submitted regularly to the Residency. The register listed their race, country of origin, age and length of residence in Sheikh Othman.

There were also prostitute lines in Crater, Maalla and Tawahi. In Tawahi the particular problem was the presence of a few European prostitutes. In 1905 there were four, including two Italians. They had all been in Aden two or three years and were living in houses at the back of Tawahi. Their clients were the European military and sailors, and also some Italian shopkeepers in Tawahi. The main problem was clients knocking at the wrong door at all hours of the night. They were given the option of moving to the old prostitute lines in Tawahi, going to the lines in Crater or leaving Aden.

In 1911 Manserjee Muncherjee complained that the block he had bought in Tawahi to house European prostitutes was almost empty. The problem was that the police at the port were not allowing prostitutes to land in Aden as they did not have sufficient money in their possession as per the rules in force. He said they would quickly earn enough not to be stranded in Aden.

In 1909 one of the Italian prostitutes had passed on syphilis to a gunner. When she was investigated it was found she had already left for Massaua. If she tried to return to Aden the police were instructed to deny her entry. In 1912 another of the Italians supposedly suffering from syphilis refused to remain in hospital for treatment. Deportation was ordered but she managed to get herself examined by the PMO (Colonel Pratt) who certified she was not suffering from a venereal disease.

A follow-up article will deal with the 1930s.

The Bombay Act III of 1867 called for the registration of prostitutes and the requirement for them to live in areas set aside for them. In 1877 there were just 19 registered prostitutes but there is no doubt there were many more unregistered. The occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases was relatively small with a mere .07% of European troops being admitted to hospital in 1875.

In the mid to late 1800's the majority of prostitutes were Somalis and just a few Arabs.  These working women were required to pay a daily sum for the hire of a house, furniture, clothes and ornaments. They were known to be alcoholics.

Late in 1915 there was an outbreak of venereal disease amongst the Indian Troops. Typical of ruling attitudes at the time it was recommended that women with the infection be deported!