In 'The Dutch State as a Pimp', an (English-language) research article in the new issue of TSEG 10 (2013) 3, the history of the largest open-air brothel in the world, Campo Alegre on the Caribbean-Dutch island Curaçao is unfolded. Dutch authorities started this state brothel in 1949 in an attempt to stop the spread of venereal diseases.
The authors Mariëlle Kleyn and Marlou Schrover argue that the brothel did not solve that problem or any other problem related to prostitution. In the debate between those in favour of regulation and those in favour of prohibition, authorities were plagued by a dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t scenario. The article ties in with current debates on prostitution policy changes.
All research articles in this issue:
Infrastructure in an urban landscape: Holland 1200-1850. Nikki Brand and Jan Luiten van Zanden (in Dutch)
The Dutch State as a Pimp. Policies regarding a brothel on Curaçao. Mariëlle Kleyn and Marlou Schrover
How Did Dutch Bread Bakers Modernise in the Early Twentieth Century? The Role of the Dutch Bakers Association and the Institute for Milling and Baking. Sue-Yen Tjong Tjin Tai, Mila Davids en Harry Lintsen (in Dutch)
Changing Economic Leadership. A new benchmark of sector productivity in the United States and Western Europe, ca. 1910 Ewout Frankema, Pieter Woltjer and Jan Pieter Smits