Background[ edit ] Accusations of prostitution have been used as slanders against women as a form of disempowerment dating back to the Christian Bible.
Opposition to prostitution was much more frequent, often because of a belief that legalization of prostitution would result in a surge of men getting sexually transmitted diseases. It was supposed by Pope Pius XII's direction on the purpose of Christian marriage, which said, "In accordance with the Creator's will, matrimony, as an institution of nature, has not as a primary and intimate end the personal perfection of the married couple but rather the procreation and upbringing of new life.
One of the fundamental demands of the true moral order is the sincere acceptance of motherhood's function and duties. A zealous system of monitoring public morality was created to combat it.
Aligned with Roman Catholic interests, it served as an arm of the regime, seeking to monitor prostitutes and to rehabilitate these women to bring them into line with Spanish definitions of womanhood. The two most important reports were published in and It was also a way of continuing to control female sexuality, and reinforcing Catholic concepts of male dominion over women.
This included public prostitution organized by regulated establishments run by pimps or businessmen, and private prostitution organized by sex workers without the involvement of third parties both within and outside state exercised control. Street prostitutes were vulnerable to law enforcement official efforts to send clean up prostitution, and put these women in prisons or reform institutions. Authorities justified these efforts by saying they were trying to prevent the spread of venereal disease.
