Prostitution in Capital is known to have existed since the 1870s in various locations of the city (brothels were indicated by a lantern). During the following forty years, prostitutes gradually became more visible, displaying themselves in the streets. In March 1922, the government’s interior ministry, then non-religious, organized a partial roundup of prostitutes and assembled them in Shahr-e No, an area close to the citadel.
Capital’s other prostitutes joined them in the next eleven years, and then Shahr-e No was circled with a 2.50-meter-high brick wall, with women being forbidden from leaving this area. After the revolution and the establishment of the Islamic regime, in July 1979, a crowd that witnessed the death sentences of three women accused of procuring assaulted the district, burned the brothels, persecuted women, and spread terror. At this time, the area sprawled over 13 ha and hosted 1500 women, 753 street sellers, 178 shops, and two theaters.
