Policemen and ‘Women of Ill Repute’: A Study of Male Sexual Attitudes and Behaviour in Fascist Italy

Abstract

Based on an analysis of personnel documents of the Italian Interior Ministry Police, the article investigates the sexual attitudes of police personnel during the Mussolinian dictatorship and the manner in which their commanders dealt with ‘misconduct’ related to this (particularly liaisons with/exploitation of prostitutes, and other extra-marital relationships). This is considered in the contexts of both the fascist regime’s attempt to ‘moralize’ Italian society in correspondence to its demographic campaign, a task largely entrusted to the police themselves, and the hierarchical regulation of the sexual conduct of policemen which pre-dated Mussolini’s rise to power. The article also examines the impact of the sexual mentality and behaviour of representatives of an authoritarian state on the communities they policed. Though the sexual ‘misconduct’ of police personnel appeared to reflect the sexual culture nurtured by fascism (particularly the squadrismo movement), the article questions this, given similarities in attitudes and behaviour registered during the Liberal period. Such an analysis is also undertaken with a view to reflecting upon the sexual practices of Italian males in general during the fascist period.