Private prostitute

A prostitute who operates without official permission. In the past, the term referred to clandestine prostitutes, as opposed to public prostitutes, whose activities were officially recognized and who were protected by the authorities. Now that public prostitution has been abolished worldwide, private prostitutes refer to unregistered, hidden prostitutes who are not subject to such supervision, as opposed to prostitutes who are registered and regularly examined and supervised by the police or health centers. However, even among countries that have laws prohibiting prostitution, there are countries that tolerate prostitution as a necessary social evil under the supervision of registration and examinations, and countries like Japan that do not tolerate it at all (in Japan, we have the Prostitution Prevention Law). In the latter case, all prostitutes would be considered private prostitutes.

Historically, private prostitution has existed alongside the history of prostitution from Babylon, ancient Egypt, and ancient India to the present day. In countries and times when the public prostitution system took the form of a brothel-style prostitution system, private prostitutes were established to escape the system, to avoid paying taxes on prostitution imposed by the state or feudal lords, or to avoid being exploited by their employers. Therefore, the authorities actively hunted down and cracked down on private prostitutes in order to collect taxes, maintain order, and protect public prostitution operators. In response, private prostitutes disguised their prostitution. Looking at the example of Japan, immediately after the public prostitution system was implemented, the number of private prostitutes who secretly engaged in prostitution while listing official occupations such as bathhouse hostess, tea girls, and dancers increased. Furthermore, because the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji government were lax in their measures against prostitution, private prostitutes worked openly under the names of women serving food at inns, geisha, barmaids, etc., and businesses that operated as such thrived, and the public accepted them as okabasho (places for prostitution). Similarly, even today, there are places where disguised prostitution exists, such as special bathhouses. In the Edo period, there was a law that required private prostitutes to be captured and forcibly incorporated into public prostitution as "slaves," and although there are anti-prostitution laws in modern times, both are overwhelmed by the power of clandestine businesses. This trend is not unique to Japan.

Herein lies the difficulty of the issue of private prostitution. In other words, as mentioned above, even if there is a law prohibiting prostitution, is it better to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases through registration and medical examination management, or is it better not to allow prostitution as long as there is a law prohibiting prostitution and not to examine and manage secret private prostitutes? With the latter, there is the problem of exploitation by pimps who claim to protect private prostitutes in a weak position. We must also face up to the historical and social reality that women who have no other way to earn an income than through sex trade have become private prostitutes as a business or as a side job.

[Mitsusada Fukasaku]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

公(おおやけ)の許可なく営業する売春婦のこと。過去においては、売春を公認され当局の保護を受けていた公娼に対して、もぐり的存在の売春婦をさす。公娼制が世界的に廃止された現在では、登録して警察あるいは保健所の定期的検診管理を受けている売春婦に対し、その管理も受けていない未登録の隠れた売春婦を私娼とよぶ。ただし、売春禁止法を設けている各国でも、社会的必要悪として登録と検診の管理のもとに売春を許容している国と、日本のようにいっさい許容しない国とがある（わが国では売春防止法）。この後者の場合は、売春婦はすべて私娼ということになろう。

　歴史的には、バビロン、古代エジプト、古代インドの昔から現在に至るまで、売春の歴史とともに私娼は存続している。公娼制が遊廓(ゆうかく)的集娼制度の形をとった国々や時代では、その制度から逃れるため、また国家や領主が売春に課している税金払いを免れるため、あるいは雇い主から搾取されるのを嫌って、私娼ができた。したがって当局は税収と秩序と公娼業者保護のため、しきりに私娼狩りと取締りを行った。これに対し私娼側は売春を偽装した。これを日本の例でみれば、公娼制実施直後は湯女(ゆな)、茶汲女(ちゃくみおんな)、踊り子などの表面の職業を掲げ、裏で売春をする私娼が増えた。さらに、徳川幕府も明治政府も売春対策が緩やかであったため、宿場の飯盛女(めしもりおんな)や芸者、酌婦(しゃくふ)などという名で私娼が公然と売春をしていたし、それを営業とする業者が栄え、世間ではそれを岡(おか)場所として認めていたわけである。同様に最近でも特殊浴場のように偽装売春をしているところがある。江戸時代には、私娼は捕らえて「奴(やっこ)」として公娼に強制編入するという法律があり、現代では売春防止法がありながら、いずれももぐり営業の勢いに押しまくられている。こうした傾向は日本だけではない。

　ここに私娼の問題のむずかしさがある。すなわち、前述のように売春禁止法を設けていても、登録と検診管理で性病伝播(でんぱ)防止をするのがよいか、売春禁止法がある以上は売春を認めず、もぐりの私娼の検診管理もしないでいる状態がよいか。後者には、弱い立場の私娼を庇護(ひご)すると称するヒモの搾取の問題もあろう。また、性取引にしか収入の道のない女性が、商売としてあるいは内職として私娼となってきた歴史的社会的現実の問題も、直視しなければなるまい。

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