Wrong Women

A feminist history of Europe's largest red-light district and an examination of the lives of the women who worked there. The existence of Monto - Europe's biggest red-light district from 1860 to 1925 with up to 1600 sex workers at any one time - is not a secret, but what happened to the women at the end of their lives and after death is less clear. This account balances the historical origins of Monto, its expansion during the 1860s, the role of the British Army in providing the majority of customer and many other key moments in its 65-year span with an investigation into the inhumane and heartbreaking reality of the treatment of the women that worked there. West explores the stigma the ladies of Monto endured, the claims that women who were no longer able to work were incarcerated in mental hospitals, and statements that the bodies of these working women were sent to the local glue factory instead of being buried among 'decent' people. This eloquent and moving investigation examines oral histories, historical records, historical maps, and literature to try to piece together the fate of the women and girls who worked in Monto, and to shine a light on their realities.