Career descent to the bottom. Prostitution in Tsarist Russia

Mashchenko Anastasia – a tour guide, researcher of the everyday life of pre-revolutionary Russia, author of historical blogs about Moscow under the pseudonym Sama Sebe Nastya (sama_sebe_nastya). The doors of brothels and secret dens were wide open before the revolution... for any girl wishing to quickly improve her financial situation. An easy, seemingly effortless income turned out to be an illusion in practice – having crossed the threshold of a disreputable establishment, none of them belonged to themselves anymore. Prostitutes were bought and sold, almost all their money was taken away, and they were "tied" to the houses of tolerance with inflated debts. Many were not literate in reading and counting, making it difficult to resist lawlessness. For years, deteriorating and becoming accustomed to the corrupting environment, they themselves were in no hurry to escape the abyss into which they had fallen.