Lock hospital: Difference between revisions

A '''lock hospital''' was an establishment that specializedspecialised in treating [[venereal disease|sexually transmitted disease]]s. They operated in Britain and its colonies and territories from the 18th century to the 20th.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/lockhospitalsloc00lown/lockhospitalsloc00lown_djvu.txt|title=Lock Hospitals and Lock Wards in General Hospitals|last=Loundes|first=Frederick W.|publisher=J. & A. Churchill|year=1882|location=London}}</ref>

The military had a close association with a number of the hospitals. By the mid-19th century most of the larger army bases in India were home to a lock hospital.<ref name="Dartnell">{{cite journal|last=Dartnell|first=George R.|year=1860|title=On the prevalence and severity of syphilis in the British army and its prevention|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=1|issue=174|pages=317–319|pmc=2252720|doi=10.1136/bmj.s4-1.174.317}}</ref> There were more military than civil lock hospitals in India, due to the prevalence of venereal diseases amongst British troops.<ref name="Medical History of British India">{{cite web |last=Sehrawat |first=Samiksha |title=Institutions: Lock hospitals: Measures to halt venereal diseases |url=http://digital.nls.uk/indiapapers/institutions.html |work=Medical History of British India |publisher=National Library of Scotland |access-date=24 October 2013}}</ref> In 1858 the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] paid to have one opened in [[Portsmouth]] and in 1863 another in [[Plymouth]].<ref name="stark">{{cite book |title=Female Tars: Women aboard ship in the age of sail |last=Stark |first=Suzanne J. |year=1998 |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=978-0-7126-6660-2 |page=33}}</ref>

The earliest lock hospitals in India were established around 1797 at [[Berhampur]], [[Kanpur]], [[Danapur]], and [[Fatehgarh]]. They were usually within bazaars, surrounded by a mud wall and mannedstaffed by a doctor and a womanfemale assistantnurse. The local police were in charge of rounding- up women suspected of being diseased, who could return home only after obtaining a certificate of discharge.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wald |first=Erica |date=5 May 2009 |title=From begums and bibis to abandoned females and idle women |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=5–25 |doi=10.1177/001946460804600102|s2cid=143874173 }}</ref>

Lock Hospital operated in Hong Kong from 1858 to 1894 to deal with venereal diseases.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

The term "lock hospital" originates from their use as [[leprosarium]]s, in whichafter the patients"locks", wereor keptrags, inwhich covered the lepers' restraintslesions.<ref>{{cite nameweb|title=":0"Lock Hospital, Hyde Park Corner|url=http:/>{{rp/www.oldlondonmaps.com/viewspages/0334.html|3work=Sara Douglass, Old London Maps|year=2006|access-date=2010-02-02}}</ref>

* [[London Lock Hospital]]

* [[Westmoreland Lock Hospital]], Dublin

* [[Contagious Diseases Acts]]

{{[[Category:Hospitals inby Hongmedical Kong}}condition]]

[[Category:History of the UnitedBritish KingdomEmpire]]