In the nineteenth century, when Italy was undergoing significant institutional and socio-economic changes, the bourgeoisie affirmed its principles of ‘respectability’. In this context, the spread of prostitution among the poorest and most disadvantaged classes of the South became a real obsession for bourgeois society. Through the study of primary sources relating to various health institutions, this paper aims to assess the role of the Opere Pie in the control and management of prostitution. It furthermore highlights the hybrid function of the re-education, assistance and segregation of those women who represented a danger to bourgeois morality and order. Finally, it sheds light on the living conditions and social environment of young prostitutes.

在 19 世纪，当意大利正在经历重大的制度和社会经济变革时，资产阶级确认了其“体面”原则。在这种情况下，卖淫在南方最贫穷和处境最不利的阶层中的蔓延成为资产阶级社会真正的困扰。通过研究与各种卫生机构相关的主要来源，本文旨在评估 Opere Pie 在控制和管理卖淫方面的作用。它还强调了对那些对资产阶级道德和秩序构成威胁的妇女的再教育、援助和隔离的混合功能。最后揭示了妓女的生存状况和社会环境。