Year: 2020

Places in the History of Sex Work in Egypt: Wagah (Wesh) El-Berka

Wesh El-Berka or Wagah El-Berka, translates to the “face of the lake”, a street with a small alley inside the historical neighborhood of El-Azbakya. The history of this street with sex work is long, and it had an impact on the entire industry throughout its history in Egypt. Even though this street was not part of the “licensed neighborhoods” that were allowed by law to have brothels, that didn’t stop sex workers from operating in the street especially foreigners, due to the foreign privileges that existed at the time. This meant that foreigners could not be prosecuted or arrested by Egyptian officials, but only by their embassies. This made the street one of the sex work industry landmarks in Cairo.

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