Prostitution in Europe / by Abraham Flexner.

  • Abraham Flexner
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Prostitution in Europe / by Abraham Flexner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ties, more or less widespread. Most substantial is the informal union which serves as a substitute for marriage. In these combinations mutual fidelity is expected, as well as complete responsibility for such children as may be born. A combination of this sort is occasionally permanent; occasionally it is con- verted into marriage; oftener, perhaps, it binds only during mutual congeniality, being dissolved when congeniality ceases, or more frequently when one or the other member has already entered on the stages preliminary to another combination. In the city such informal mating of industrial workers of oppo- site sexes is common; the shop girl contracts an alli- ance of this kind with a clerk of her own class, or not infrequently with a student or professional man, more or less above her in rank. Of the non-legalized cohabitation of the artisans of London, Booth re- marks that at times ‘‘ they behave best if not married to the women with whom they live.’’ An informal relationship may continue as such until a child is born—or shortly after—whereupon the neglected rites may be duly performed. The high percentage of illegitimacy is thus partly accounted for: In Berlin 20% of the births are outside of wedlock; in all Germany, almost 10%. ‘‘ Frequent illegitimacy,’’ writes Adele Schreiber, ‘‘ may be the expression of wholesome monogamous conditions, as indeed is often the case in mountainous countries. Premarital relations are there common, are characterized by mutual fidelity and, with exceptions of course, look
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