Prostitutas en Tegucigalpa y Comayagüela (1935-1936): una aproximación desde la historia social

Abstract

The 1930s meant the beginning of female penetration into the public life of Honduras, with the emergence of suffrage movements and protests against the State that in 1955 would win citizens’ rights to women. Sex workers are a group usually ignored by national historiography, relegated to the status of subaltern collective whose immoral practices have had to be regulated by a benevolent State. This article highlights the role that prostitutes played in the society of Honduras in the 1930s, with a focus on their role as sex workers in an economy and state that was averse to them. For this purpose, data from the Identification Registry published by the Department of Investigation of the National Police in the Police Magazine have been used, comprising the period studied from 1935 to 1936. Based on the information collected, the work and the style of life of prostitutes, placing them as active agents - although persecuted and discriminated against - in Honduran society. The data processing has been performed quantitatively, while its analysis has followed the proposals of social history.