Uncovering the blue side of Goldfields history

HISTORIAN Barbara Minchinton will be at Sovereign Hill later this month sharing the story of sex work and brothels on the Victorian Goldfields.

Soliciting in the streets became illegal in Victoria in 1891 but many people continued to use elicit sex work to support themselves.

“I had written a book about the women of Little Lon who were sex workers in Melbourne in the 19th century,” said Minchinton.

“I was asked to do the talk in Ballarat on the basis of that and have put together a talk on sex work in Victoria generally and then more specifically what was happening in Ballarat.”

There were a lot of reasons why women became involved in the sex industry in places in the 1800s.

“The sex industry in Ballarat had a number of layers of women who were working in the industry,” said Minchinton.

“There were the really poor who were staving off starvation, then the women who were doing okay and were in it for a bit of fun and then on the top there were the women who were running brothels and doing very well from it.”

During this period, sex work was labelled as a necessary evil.

“The discourse was that they were morally corrupt, evil women,” said Minchinton.

“Sex work was regarded as necessary for men’s sexual health but the women who did it were evil, so it was the classic double standard.”

Minchinton said she hopes the lecture can provide people with a more rounded view of the industry and will demonstrate the many reasons why women became involved in sex work.

“I hope to give people a more nuanced view of the women,” she said.

“These women were actually integral to Victoria’s economy and in Ballarat that was true as a lot of money passed through their hands.”

The lecture will take place on Thursday 19 October from 5.15pm at Sovereign Hill’s Space and Time Theatre.

Tickets are $20 for adults or $16 for concession card holders and they can be purchased on Sovereign Hill’s website.