'Prostitution during the 18th and 19th century Essay\r'

' harlotry became a signifi flockt of capital of the United Kingdom’s tarradiddle during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. At the duration, harlotry was a continuing problem of the existence order. It became so big in London that it attr work integrityd the at decenniumtion of umteen groups such as, â€Å"the church, the state, the checkup profession, philanthropists, feminists and some others.” (Bartley, 1) All of these groups worked together in order to re ascendant the problem, eve though at the beat whoredom was non illegal. However, it was an activity that many mat up was cordi tout ensembley unaccept subject. prostitution began because Britain was experiencing political and neighborly fer workforcet during the industrial Revolution. The industrial revolution brought up bleak social groups, which had struggled to exert themselves politically and culturally. (Fisher, 29) During the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries London had many deficien cies in their legal organization, which can explain the openness of prostitution.\r\nA major(ip) doer of this problem lays in the fact that al about n angiotensin converting enzyme of the laws beneath which prostitutes were almost comm whole arrested in the eighteenth century referred to their dourence by name. Instead, prostitutes were charged for violating laws. At the time, laws of night walking were contrive into the system. The main physical object was to carry out a dawn-to-dusk curfew, so the law could remain the t confesss under close mention. London decided that it was time for to get involve and find a solution before the city went out of promise. First of all, employ manpowert of law officers started by taking more action on the streets. Also, they started policing undercover plates. In profit groups such as the crystaliseers, Comwork forcetators, perform and others, used their own methods of resolving this problem. Finally, how did the mass of London feel towards prostitution and prostitutes?\r\nThe streets were becoming an dangerous environwork forcet for the citizens of London. Prostitutes started occupying the streets of London more frequently. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the policing of London’s streetwalkers were the responsibility of the constables, beadles, patrol, and watchman. Their duties were to enforce and maintain public order. There was a cosmopolitan police force consisting of upper and under Marshals, marshalmen, twenty-four hour period and night patrols and even special forces for certain towns or areas such as the Smithfield area. Each city had cardinal Wards, which in turn produced their own forces such as constables, beadles, and watchmen. All of these men were able to enforce the laws in the proximity of the Ward.\r\nFigure 1 & 2.\r\nâ€Å"The police force was to be prudent for containing street roughness and averting the danger from the uncontrolled and un-socialized castes, t he constable fictional character was to act as a domestic missionary, translating and mediating bourgeois values in working-class communities.” (Mahood, 120)\r\nIn 1784, solar twenty-four hours patrol was introduced in Westminster, Nevertheless, â€Å"before 1828 no parish anyplace in London had considered it all necessary or desirable to provide… intensive daylight patrols.” (Henderson (1), 191) During that time all the re starts devoted their time to nightly watch, as they believed it was more of a crucial period of the day for prostitution.\r\nWatchmen were the most intrusive in doing their work, and as rise up trim back the importance of constables. A constable was usually in company with a beadle, whose duties consisted of patrolling the streets of the parish as frequently as possible by dint ofout the night. (Henderson (1),192) However, while on duty, they would multifariousness of spend most of their time in a safer area around the watch can. Fu rthermore, they would non even show up any(prenominal)times for duty. Moreover, the Watchman was forever and a day expected to be on the streets from dawn coin bank dusk.\r\nIt was very important for the police to discharge up the streets. Solicitors and prostitutes crowded the busy narrow streets of London. It was inevitable either group would come into conflicts with other citizens. The public streets were areas where one could enjoy the view and sights of the beautiful city, in addition to beingness the main passageways, for vehicles and pedestrians. However, â€Å"to the prostitutes the streets, and squares of London were a workplace.”(Henderson (1), 198)\r\nMr. William Logan was presumption the duty in 1843 to research and find solutions of prostitution. He was an observer of many streets and brothel houses, and he declared several solutions towards prostitution. One of the solutions was the policing of the streets. He suggests, â€Å"from eight to ten o’c lock at night, to bear in mind those who are employed to conduct the flush correspondence and carry it safely.” (Logan,40) Therefore, that crime should, be traced to its source as accurate as possible, and a system of prevention must be introduced. (Asylums1817, 10) Police forces had many problems in assembling together and during the late 1840’s a quarter of the Edinburgh police force was brush aside annually for misconduct and 63 percent were save as drunk on duty. (Mahood, 120)\r\nPolicing Disorderly house was another solution London brought to the highest degree to distinguish prostitution. Disorderly and Bawdy houses were controlled, like streetwalking, because of their threat to the head being of the society.\r\nâ€Å"They were the causes of endless mischief, and tended directly to the overthrow of workforce’s bodies, to the wasting of their Livelihoods, and to the endangering of their souls.” (Henderson (1), 253)\r\nThe general society dictu m these houses as a place without virtuouss or religious principles, and rather a place of corruption. They were alike concerned that the people that worked in the houses were being funded through fraud and robbery. Figure 3. Select Police multitude commission members in 1816 and 1817 showed great concern of the spread of these squalid demonstrated houses. They were catered only for thieves and prostitutes. The military commission introduced a license for tell oning alcoholic drinks, where if the house did not practice the laws, their alcohol license would be removed. The Justices of the Peace had the primary election responsibility, to grant these licenses. This procedure began in 1729 and it still in effect today. Before 1729, it was possible to get a license from the Stamp Office, which was a practice that helped persevere open the Disorderly Houses.\r\nIn 1743, the Gin influence was introduced, and in 1751 confirmed and, â€Å"forbade any but tavern, victualling hous e, inn, drinking chocolate house, or alehouse keepers to hold a license to sell spirituous liquors.” (Henderson (1), 257) When it came time to renew licenses, the constable of to each one Ward or parish was to present to the magistrates a heed of those houses requiring a renewal of their license. After that, each police constable would be placed under oath and questioned about the conduct of the house in his district, as well as if any neighbors had made any complaints. (Henderson (1), 258) nevertheless though the Constable had spoken well of the house or not, any person that was present was able to state their objections towards the issue. Representatives of the parish or ward raised most of the objections, and in some cases in that location would be the mien of the neighbors.\r\nIn 1752, London passed the Disorderly House Act. This act encouraged people to turn in the houses and owners into the police. If the nurture led to a charge, the witness would receive £20. The houses where divided into three different classes: First, Second, and Third. Figure 4. Wealthy merchants, military officers, and those in the higher circle of society usually visited the First class houses. The Second class houses were in the main intended for businessmen, and blue-collar people. Finally, the Third class houses were for the not so wealthy citizens. As a give of the close monitoring of these houses and liquor licenses, the amount of Disorderly houses dropped, by the end of the 19th century.\r\nOther major groups besides the police wanted to get twisty to put a stop to prostitution. These groups consisted of Parish committees, Reformers, and Philanthropist. They all contributed in different ways. The perform helped out the police by hiring watchmen, for the area that surrounds them. In 1796, St. James parish in Westminster was employing cardinal watchmen, six beadles and two inspectors as well as its body of constables. (Henderson (1), 192) Even the smaller parishes helped out and had bigger numbers of people working. This was all possible because in Westminster from 1753, on, a series of Watch Acts where introduced.\r\nThese acts gave individual parishes, or to the City and Liberty as a whole, the discipline and duty to establish a parochial watch, under the general supervision of the Middle stir Watch Justices of the Peace. (Henderson (1), 190) Also the churches forbade women that were working as prostitutes of any religious rights. If they were still doing the trade wind until they died, they would not receive proper burial rights. The Church also made its own court and was responsible for maintaining acceptable standards of Christian behavior. (Henderson (2),81)\r\nReformers believed that prostitutes were victims of upper class men who seduced them. However, they also believed that prostitution was the outcome of personal moral weakness, and therefore blamed women for prostitution. (Bartley, 5) â€Å"Moral reformers demanded tha t the police be granted the authority to curb soliciting and brothel keeping.” (Mahood, 121) The Reformers believed the only way to eliminate prostitution was to get give up of prostitutes. In turn, they started and installed a variety of institutions, such as large penitentiaries, asylums, and even small homes. These centers were used as places of rehabilitation. Figure 5. These institution centers were located within most large cities and towns. In 1758, in Whitechapel, London the Reform opened up The Magdalen Hospital.\r\nIt was a great achiever and thus led to the opening of more institutions. The Church tried not to connect all institutions with a religious aspect, like Lock Hospitals with lock wards. This kind of institution dealt more with unmarried females and tried to make do them for venereal diseases. Figure 5. By the end of the 19th century, a special group was formed, National sexual union of Women’s Worker (NUWW), whose members met once a course of s tudy to discuss strategies and to compare practices. (Bartley, 26) Each institution had its own managerial system; the upper and middle class managed most of them.\r\nâ€Å"There were three main methods of managing a reform institution: some were managed by men who employed female workers as matrons and laundry workers; some where managed jointly by men and women; some were managed by women only.” (Bartley, 27)\r\nReform Institutions had great success. Which resulted in a descent in prostitution. Furthermore, a mixture of clergy and laymen and women ran institutions that were set up by the Church of England. Philanthropists saw prostitution as a problem because of its negative effect on the population. They too implemented institution and ran them similar to the Reform.\r\nThe bulk of the people in London did not flout with prostitution, nor did they understand it. People of London felt that prostitution was affecting the Modernity of London. â€Å"Prostitutes disordered t he state and be the empire.” (Ogborn, 47) People felt that kids that are surrounded by prostitutes, especially boys would not grow up to be healthy, and productive men because prostitutes were only spreading ruin, disease, and death. whoredom was an interference of social relations and the geographies that surrounded them, which created new relationships and new spaces. It also was responsible for subverting the relations of the public sphere; even the hierarchies and equalities of the public sphere were being touch on. They also felt that prostitution caused the ruin of families.\r\nProstitutes were looked upon as evil people, and were treated as though they were infect with the plague. They were â€Å"public nuisances” as one shopkeeper describes. â€Å"The activities of prostitutes and their bullies on Fleet street and Ludgate Hill adversely affected their business.” (Henderson (1), 195) It also became hard for all the women in the town, for they were also treated like prostitutes. For example if a charr were walking on the streets just after dusk, she would be harassed and insulted. On the other hand, people believed that men who engaged with prostitutes were not at fault because of the come-on the women give off the male passer-bys.\r\nIn 1864, the communicable Disease Act (CD Acts) was passed. It was meant to make paid sex safer for people, especially those in the armed forces. This act was passed because, at the time in the Army and Navy, many men had contracted venereal diseases. So, the government enforced that all women that were practicing prostitution must be inspected. Police were given up the authority to arrest any woman that was pretend of practicing prostitution, and make her undergo an internal examination at a Certified Hospital. If a disease were found she would be detained until the disease was cured. Reformers felt that it was fair to utter that Prostitution helped spaced out the wealth of men, because there would be different sections in the community. In one area you would have men that were well off and in another area men that were not well off. William Logan describes the girls that he observed were poor and needy children that were constantly being abused by their supporters. (Logan, 26)\r\nIt is clear that prostitutes played a very important use of goods and services during the 18th and 19th centuries, which were modernity times of London. Consequently, it was not a good role. Prostitution affected the evolution and growth of the city. As a result, the city had to put a stop to the acts and began by policing the streets. They tried to control the narrow overcrowded streets to make them a safer place for other individuals. Secondly, they tried to control Disorderly houses. They achieved this by hiring inspectors and constables to watch the houses, and even enforced Liquor Licenses. Moreover, groups such as the Church and Reformers had their own techniques to stop prostitution.\ r\nBoth groups make a series of institutions that were treated as rehab centers. Ultimately, citizens of London had their own view and understanding of prostitution. Most felt that it was the ruin of London, and it was affecting the modernization of the city, especially concerning the social relations and the geographies that went along with them. Others felt sorrow for these little girls; they believed they were victims of upper-class men. Although prostitution still exists today, its evolution in the 18th and 19th centuries will be a significant part of London’s history forever.\r\nWork Cited\r\nBartley, Puala. Prostitution: Prevention and Reform in England. London: Routledge, 2000.\r\nFisher, Trevor. Prostitution and the Victorians. New York: Sutton, 1997.\r\n(1) Henderson, Anthony. Female Prostitution in London 1730-1830. London: University of London, 1992.\r\n(2) Henderson, Tony. Disorderly Women in the 18th Century London. New York: Longman, 1999.\r\nLogan, William. F emale Prostitution in London, Leeds, and Rochdale. London: Personal Observation, 1843.\r\nMahood, Linda. The Magdalenes: Prostitution in the 19th Century. London: Routledge, 1990.\r\nOgborn, Miles. Spaces of Modernity. New York: Guilford Press, 1998.\r\nReport of the Committee of the Guardian Society for the deliverance of public morals, providing terminable Asylums for Prostitutes. Dec. 1815.\r\nReport of the Committee of the Guardian Society for the preservation of public morals, providing temporary Asylums for Prostitutes. Oct. 1817.\r\n'