The UC Santa Barbara Undergraduate Journal of History

The small confines of Soho Village have long been known as a hotbed of sexual licentiousness in the UK. Yet, in the post-World War II era, the neighbourhood's sexual character evolved drastically, going from a space marked by street prostitution to a space typified by neon signs (sex shops, X-rated cinemas, clubs, etc.). While studies have explored this evolution in-depth, this paper adds to the literature by bridging the study of Soho with the broader study of UK “vice laws.” The main view developed in this paper is that post-war Soho was not solely a sexual space but a microcosm of the U_.K._’s socio-legal attitudes concerning sex. In doing so, it emphasizes social attitudes’ impact on geographical space. This essay shows that Soho’s evolution reflects a broader change of socio-legal attitudes that created a strict moral dichotomy between public and private displays of sex. Ultimately, these dichotomous attitudes and subsequent legislation led to two consequences in Soho: first, the dismantling of street prostitution and, next, the rise of a lucrative indoor sex trade, a trade that would become onerous to the neighbourhood—resulting in a sweeping gentrification process in the early 20th century. Lastly, this paper observes that, throughout the late 20th and early 21st century, the post-war socio-legal attitudes have had the most striking impact on Soho’s sex workers—further marginalizing them.