Female Offenders in the Prisons of Trabzon Province: Living and Health Conditions in the Late XIXth Century and the First Quarter of the XXth Century

Abstract

Prisons, which emerged in the XVIIIth century with the industrialisation process in the West, started to be established in the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the XIXth century in consequence of the pressures of Western states. Despite the political and economic depression, the Ottoman Empire had to give in to the pressures of the Western countries for the construction of modern prisons. In this context, the issue of modern prisons emerged as one of the significant challenges to be managed by the state. Immediately after the proclamation of the Imperial Edict of Gulhane, the new Penal Code was adopted in 1840, which initiated the process of constructing modern prisons. Following the new Penal Codes of 1851 and 1858, the construction of prisons accelerated throughout the country. The Ottoman Empire endeavoured for the expansion of prisons in provincial centres, sanjaks, and towns. By the beginning of the 20th century, many prisons were opened in all provinces, sanjaks, and towns. However, these prisons could not be built in accordance with the modern prison projects of Western countries. In the report of the British Major Gordon adopted in 1858 and in the Regulation on Detention Houses and Prisons adopted in 1880, it was obligatory to build separate prisons for women in each province. Nevertheless, even though the state aimed to construct modern prison buildings for female offenders, the project could not be realised due to financial constraints. Female offenders were executed in the male prisons in the provinces, sanjaks, and towns, in the wards allocated to them, in rented houses for a certain fee, or in the imam's house. Although the number of female convicts was quite low, the need for renting houses and appointing guards in many towns for the incarceration of female offenders imposed a serious burden on the state in terms of prison rental fees and the salaries of guards. In the light of the documents in the Ottoman Archives of the Directorate of State Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, this study aims to reveal information about female offenders, women's prisons, and their living and health conditions in the prisons of Trabzon Province until the end of the XIXth century and the first quarter of the XXth century.