PROCURING AND TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN IN THE LATE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Turcica , 2018

Kezban Acar
There have been many studies on prostitution and procuring in different periods and places in the Ottoman Empire, and its legal aspects in the Islamic and Ottoman Law. Although these studies give valuable and insightful information on the legal status of procuring in şeriat and kanuns, and although by their distinct and sometimes similar approaches toward procuring and procurers as well as by providing examples of procuring and prostitution in Istanbul and different towns and cities in the Empire such as Aleppo, Kastamonu, Balıkesir, Damascus, Antep (Ayntab), and Crete, they contribute greatly to the understanding of sex crimes and trafficking in the Empire, almost none of them refers to the international extent of procuring and trafficking in women in the late Ottoman Empire.
Some studies by Edward J. Bristow and Rıfat Bali deal specifically with trade in women in the Ottoman Empire. Covering a time period from 1870 to 1939 and a large area from Europe to Asia and America and utilizing mainly German sources, Bristow opens a window to trade in women in the Ottoman Empire and contributes greatly to our understanding of trade in white women from Europe to the Ottoman Empire, especially to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Africa and Asia.
Examples from Ottoman archival documents can complete the picture. Such is the aim of the present paper, based on an examination of documents from different archive collections – Imperial Edicts (Hatt-ı Humayuns), Ministry of Interior Records (Dahiliye Nezareti Fonu), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Records (Hariciye Nezareti Fonu), Police Records (Zaptiye Nezareti Fonu), Cevdet Records (Cevdet Fonu) – all preserved in the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry (Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivleri/BOA) in Istanbul, and on a review of the correspondence between high-level officials and institutions, such as the Ministry of Interior and Foreign Affairs, the Chamber of Deputies, the Ministry of Sects, the Orthodox-Greek Patriarchate, the Chief Rabbinate, the Police Department, governors, and prosecutors in the same archives.

Volume: 48
Page Numbers: 271-299
Publication Date: 2018
Publication Name: Turcica