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Brothels in Kharkov began to appear around the 1850s, after the Ministry of Internal Affairs allowed prostitution in the Russian Empire. Before that, at the beginning of the 19th century, prostitutes secretly worked on the central streets of Kharkov, writes historian Andrei Paramonov in his essay “The History of Kharkov Prostitution Before 1917.” By decision of the Kharkov City Council, they began to be driven out of there – prostitutes who returned to the city center were fined or sent to the women’s cell of the prison castle. Mostly, dissolute women worked at fairs, near taverns, inns, and around barracks. "Rastruski", as they were called before, united in groups, lived together or nearby and lived mainly in Ivanovka, as well as in the suburban settlements - Apanasovskaya, Nemyshlyanskaya, Zakharkovska. It was decided to legalize the body trade in the second half of the 19th century due to the mass illnesses of soldiers, who in their free time often used the services of "tavern girls". Only a soldier was treated for venereal diseases by a regimental doctor, and prostitutes improved their health with healers and did not go to hospitals, continuing to infect clients. Priestesses of love were mainly women who gave birth to a child out of wedlock - covered, dishonored, as well as girls from poor families and soldiers' widows. After the legalization of prostitution, noblewomen, townswomen, children of merchants began to go to such work - mainly in order to get married successfully or go into service to officials. In addition, prostitution brought in good income – the fee ranged from 20 kopecks to 1 ruble.