There is no authoritative explanation for the origin of the term ‘red light district’. It still lies shrouded in apocrypha and rumours, much like its inhabitants. Some mark the Red Light House saloon, an apparently famous brothel in the old American West, as the point of origin.

Others speak of American rail-road workers who would allegedly hang their red lanterns on the windows of the brothels they frequented. Which, if any, of the explanations is correct, is uncertain. What is certain is that the term ‘red light’, evocative of danger and alarm, has long been used to demarcate and separate the practice of prostitution from the rest of society.