Ebook: Sex for Sale in Scotland: Prostitution in Edinburgh and Glasgow, 1900-1939

A social history of prostitution in Scotland that focuses on the realities of women’s lives

Sex for Sale in Scotland examines the various formal and informal methods that were used to police female prostitution in Edinburgh and Glasgow between 1900 and 1939 and explores how these policies influenced women’s lives. The book uses a rich combination of police, probation, magistrates’, poor law and voluntary organisations’ records to demonstrate how these organisations combined to establish a ‘penal-welfare’ approach towards regulating prostitution in Scotland. By mapping the geography of prostitution, the book argues that prostitution was not forced into the outskirts of society, either physically or socially.

The book examines both indoor and outdoor prostitution and the relationships that developed among the wide range of people who profited from commercial sex. Particular emphasis is placed on the experiences of the women involved in prostitution, highlighting the poverty, exploitation and abuse they faced, but also the ways in which they negotiated these dangers.

This social history of prostitution maps how the organisation, policing and experiences of prostitution developed in an ever-changing urban landscape during a period of extraordinary developments in technology and entertainment, alongside the wider socio-economic changes brought about by the First World War.

Key features

• First study on the history of prostitution in Scotland during the early twentieth century
• Focuses on the lives and experiences of women involved in prostitution
• Includes cases studies on individual women’s lives
• Examines the policing of prostitution and collaborations between the police, probation service and voluntary organisations