Prostitution and entertainment in Valletta in the first years of the self-government period

Abstract

The objective of this thesis was to delve into the ambiguous world of entertainment and prostitution in Valletta in the early 1920s. The main sources used in this dissertation were the police records found at the National Archives of Malta in Santo Spirito in Rabat. The archival information unearthed contradicts what most secondary sources discuss about the subject. The data from the census and police reports uncovered the differences between barmaids, artistes and prostitutes and the social realities these women experienced in Malta of the early 1920s. The National Archives of Malta had not yet catalogued the police reports, and so only one year‟s worth of reports could be studied. This study required spending a considerable amount of time at the archives. Some days did not result in finding any new information, whereas there would be other days where I discovered valuable troves of information. This thesis is the first to delve into the social reality of Valletta‟s artistes, barmaids, and prostitutes in the early 1920s. The data was analysed both through qualitative and quantitative methods.