User:Glaghiti1/sandbox

Female sexual slavery was extremely common in the Ottoman empire and any child of a female slave were just as legitimate as any child born of a free woman. This means that any child of a female slave could not be sold or given away. Slavery in of itself was long tied with the economic and expansionist activities of the Ottoman empire. There was a major decrease in slave acquisition by the late eighteenth century as a result of the lessoning of expansionist activities. War efforts were a great source of slave procurement, so the Ottoman empire had to find other methods of obtaining slaves because they were a major source of income within the empire. The Caucasian War caused a major influx of Circassian slaves into the Ottoman market and a person of modest wealth could purchase a slave with a few pieces of gold. At a time, Circassian slaves became the most abundant in the imperial harem.

Some female slaves who were owned by women were sold as sex workers for short periods of time. While prostitution was against the law, there were very little recorded instances of punishment that came to shari'a courts for pimps, prostitutes, or for the people who sought out their services. Cases that did punish prostitution usually resulted in the expulsion of the prostitute or pimp from the area they were in. However, this does not mean that these people were not always receiving light punishments. Sometimes military officials took it upon themselves to enforce extra judicial punishment. This involved pimps being strung up on trees, destruction of brothels, and harassing prostitutes.

Circassians, Syrians, and Nubians were the three primary races of females who were sold as sex slaves (Cariye) in the Ottoman Empire. Circassian girls were described as fair and light-skinned and were frequently enslaved by Crimean Tatars then sold to Ottoman Empire to live and serve in a Harem. They were the most expensive, reaching up to 500 pounds sterling, and the most popular with the Turks. Second in popularity were Syrian girls, with their dark eyes, dark hair, and light brown skin, and came largely from coastal regions in Anatolia. Their price could reach up to 30 pounds sterling. They were described as having "good figures when young". Nubian girls were the cheapest and least popular, fetching up to 20 pounds sterling. Sex roles and symbolism in Ottoman society functioned as a normal action of power. ''' The palace Harem excluded enslaved women from the rest of society. '''

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, sexual slavery was not only central to Ottoman practice but a critical component of imperial governance and elite social reproduction. Boys could also become sexual slaves, though usually they worked in places like bathhouses (hammam) and coffeehouses.

'''During this period, historians have documented men indulging in sexual behavior with other men; and getting caught.Moreover, the visual illustrations during this period of exposing a sodomite being stigmatized by a group of people with Turkish wind instruments shows the disconnect between sexuality and tradition. However those that were accepted became tellaks (masseurs), köçeks (cross-dressing dancers) or sāqīs (wine pourers) for as long as they were young and beardless. The "Beloveds" were often loved by former Beloveds that were educated and considered upper class.'''

''' The era of reformation known as the Tanzimat saw traditional and religious laws being replaced in favour of secular Northern European ones. Homosexuality was decriminalized as of 1838 '''