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From regulationism to the ‘Scandinavian Sonderweg’: legislating to prevent venereal diseases in Denmark during the long nineteenth century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2005

IDA BLOM
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Bergen, Norway.

Abstract

In this article I discuss the dilemma between coercion and respect for civil liberties that characterized policies for the prevention of venereal diseases during the nineteenth century. Placing Danish legislation in an international perspective, the gradual change from control of prostitution to the so-called Scandinavian Sonderweg is analysed. Special emphasis is given to parliamentary discussions on the law of 1906, with a view to disentangling the survival of traditional attitudes to sexual morality from burgeoning conceptions of universal welfare policies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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