Author: Tambe Ashwini
Place: New Delhi
Publisher: Zubaan
Year: 2009
Pages: 179
ISBN: 9788189884420
Subject: Bombay/ Mumbai
Sub-Subject: Bombay
Keyword: Prostitution, Colonial Bombay, Criminalization
Classification: 398
Shelf: C2R4
Accession No: B867
Contents: Abbreviations Introduction: Prostitution and the Law in Bombay 1- The colonial state law and sexuality 2- A failed experiment? The contagious diseases acts in Bombay 3- Racial stratification and the discourse of trafficking 4- Akootai’s death: subaltern Indian brothel workers 5- Abolition and nationalism Acknowledgment Notes Bibliography Index
Abstract: This study analyzes the regulation of prostitution in late colonial Bombay, exploring the intersections of law, sexuality, race, and politics under British rule. It examines colonial attempts to control sexual labor through legal frameworks, notably the Contagious Diseases Acts, and their impact on public health and social order. The book highlights racial and gendered dimensions of regulation, focusing on trafficking discourses and colonial hierarchies, while centering the experiences of subaltern Indian brothel workers, as in Akootai’s death. It further situates prostitution regulation within nationalist debates on abolition, revealing the entwined dynamics of legal reform, morality, and emerging political consciousness in urban India.