CDAs - How did the CDAs Affect Women Flashcards
How did the CDAs affect prostitutions - Who did the CDAs primarily affect and why?
Primarily affected working class women – aim was to identify prostitutes however the problem was that the authorities misunderstood the socio-economic issues of urban working-class women
How did the CDAs affect prostitutions - How was prostitution done in working class areas?
Although some women were prostitutes by profession, for the majority it was simply an occasional or seasonal means of making money when there was insufficient work available or particular financial hardship – therefore, a large number of working-class women could at one time or another be forced into prostitution, which made identifying prostitutes difficult
How did the CDAs affect prostitutions - What was the case in garrison towns?
This was especially the case in the military garrison towns – in civilian towards the % of women over 20 was usually in the low 50s, but in military garrison towards this was over 60% due to the number of men in the barracks
How did the CDAs affect prostitutions - What did this mean for unsupported women?
This left more unsupported women and forced more to resort to prostitution in hard times – similarly in mining towns, esp Cornwall, the financial collapse of the copper mining industry after 1867 caused an uncreased pool of women turning to prostitution
How did the Acts affect ordinary women - What was the police attitude due to prostitution being so widespread?
Because prostitution was so widespread, the police assigned to stop prostitutes were forced to assume that women living in poorer areas were prostitutes – therefore women in these areas of town would be stopped on suspicion o prostitution simply on the basis of where they lived
How did the Acts affect ordinary women - What did the opponents of the Acts insist?
Opponents of the acts insisted that many innocent women had been stopped – one anecdotal example was Mrs Percy, a professional singer who was flasely accused of prostitution – the damage to her reputation meant that she was black listed at the music halls, and she committed suicide in 1876
How did the Acts affect ordinary women - Did the gov accept the claims made by these opponents?
The gov did not accept any of these claims, but it is true that there is sufficient circumstantial evidence that innocent women were stopped – since many working-class women were illiterate and has no idea of their legal rights, they had little means of standing up to this
What happened to women under the CDAs - What happened to women who were identified as prostitutes?
Women who were identified as prostitutes were listed on a register and required to take a fortnightly examination for venereal disease – if they refused they would be taken before a magistrate and charged
What happened to women under the CDAs - What were cases like for prostitutes?
Unlike a usual criminal case, where the requirement is on the prosecutor to prove guilt, in these cases the burden was on the women to prove innocence – refusing to be examined could result in a fine or a prison sentence
What happened to women under the CDAs - What happened if the accused accepted the charges?
If the accused accepted and were examined by a surgeon, those who were found to be clean would be given a card with their personal registration number on and the surgeon’s signature to verify to customers that they were free of disease – these had to be updated at fortnightly examinations
What happened to women under the CDAs - What happened to women who were found to be diseased?
Those who were found to have disease were imprisoned in a lock hospital for up to 9 months – the women in hospitals, seen as fallen women who had left moral decency, were often treated severely – one surgeon who worked in a London lock hospital commented, in an 1882 report, that the patients were all there as a ‘direct cause of their own vicious indulgence’
What happened to women under the CDAs - What was a common treatment for venereal disease?
A common treatment for venereal disease was mercury, now known to be toxic – this was used in numerous forms including tablets, vapour baths, ointments, a corrosive mercuric oxide, and injections – these caused some serious side affects including severe mouth ulcers, loss of teeth, kidney failure, and in some cases fatal poisoning – it could relieve some of the symptoms but was not a cure – the physical impact on the women arrested under the laws was therefore more severe
