Prostitution, considered in its moral, social and sanitary aspects, in London and other large cities and garrison towns : with proposals for the control and prevention of its attendant evils / by William Acton.
- Date:
- 1870
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Prostitution, considered in its moral, social and sanitary aspects, in London and other large cities and garrison towns : with proposals for the control and prevention of its attendant evils / by William Acton. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![modation just now : have you ever known any instances at Portsraoutli or Aldershot of women being taken into the workhouse when suffering from the disease, in consequence of the deficiency of hospital accommo- dation 1—No, I do not myself know any case of the kind. 787. You are aware that there is a clause in the Poor Law Amend- ment Act enabhng the guardians to retain any person in the workhouse suffering under contagious diseases ?—Yes. 788. You do not know whether it is acted upon or not 1—No. 789. Earl of Devm.] Do you know cases where the guardians have refused admission into Avorkhouses to women suffering under this disease ?—No, I do not know of any such case. 790. Viscount Templetown.'] Is the attention of the policemen selected for this particular duty strictly confined to that, or do they exercise all the other functions that belong to the police 'i—l think that they exercise their ordinary functions; if they saw any case of felony committed, or assault demanding their interference, they would in- terfere. 791. You are, I suppose, aware of what occurs among the police at Chatham and Sheerness, and Devonport and elsewhere 1—Yes. 792. Have you ever heard of any violence being shown towards them on the part of these women 1—No. 793. The police perform their duties with easel—Yes; there is no difficulty whatever. 794. Lord Penrhyn.] Do not you think that it would be difficult to frame any Act by wliich a line could be drawn as to women above the class of common prostitutes?—! do not myself think that there is the slightest difficulty whatever in that. 795. In what way would you propose that it should be drawn; I am spealdng of the class of woman who is above solicitation in the street, Avho comes above the class of common prostitutes, and yet is known to carry on this intercourse with men; where Avould you draw the line ?—Speaking of London, I should propose that any woman who goes to places of public resort, and is known to go with different men, although not a common street walker, should be served with a notice to °' 796. Is there anything that you could take notice of beyond that fact of a woman going to public places and going with men from those public places ; you could not draw the line, so as to inquire mto people's character, to know whether they had connexion mth men or not, could you?—It would be soon known to the police; every woman has a place of resort, and I think the police could find out any woman s history in London, if they chose. ^, v • 797 Do not you think that it would be difficult to draw the Ime in an Act 1—1 do not consider that necessary; I think that every common prostitute should be registered, and a day named for medical examina- tion. It would be desirable to classify, as far as possible, the women for this purpose, a certain day in the week being set apaxt upon which medical examinations would be made by payment; this would enable the better class of women to classify themselves,^ and woulcl partly defray the expenses of putting an Act in operation, (jreat](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21966187_0234.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
