European representations of birth control and abortions in Islamic societies and harems in the modern period

Abstract

Throughout the modern period, Islamic women (whether they lived in palaces or normal houses) resorted to measures to prevent conception or to induce abortion when pregnancy occurred. They used herbs and abortifacient drugs or relied on help from other women to eliminate unwanted pregnancies. Such practices were recorded by Europeans-in some cases, doctors-who traveled to Islamic regions and described these scenes in their narratives. In addition to abortions, infanticide was also observed in the imperial palaces. Here we discuss how these sources described birth control, and how they investigated the lascivious harem, a recurring trope in orientalist literature, from a medical perspective.