![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
SOCIETAL VIEWS In the 1890s, the city of Victoria's residents' views
on prostitution seemed to range from hostile tolerance to sympathetic
acceptance. Many shared the view that "society's... army of prostitutes"
exist for the unmarried, young men, soldiers, sailors, and "all who
do not choose to bear the burdens of family" and are "tolerated
as necessary evils." The Daily Colonist's coverage of the dramatic suicide
of a local prostitute, Edna Farnsworth, suggests that many perceived the
1889 event as an opportunity to closely examine the tragic plight of the
average prostitute. Editorials speculated as to the cause of her suicide,
suggesting, "it may be that she was disgusted with the life that
she was leading, that she despised herself, and that she felt that it
was impossible for her ever again to take a place amongst honest women." The article goes on to reveal Victorian society's typical treatment of prostitutes: "Heaven may be merciful to her for man or woman seldom
is...Almost every avenue to a better life is closed against her. She sees
the finger of scorn always pointed at her. She is feared and despised
and avoided." Many Victorians shared the common fear that those involved
with prostitution "are what they are - the outcasts of society, [and
are] fast becoming the body of society itself." Others took a more sympathetic approach. At a Victoria City Council meeting, members of a large religious organization began their reform movement with an appeal to the sentiment of council members: "Whence are these poor victims of male lust recruited?
Are they not somebody's precious girls, daughters and sisters, whose confiding
hearts and susceptible natures have been led on toward the abyss...often
after long and artful persuasion by men of fiendish motives, to be heartlessly
abandoned in their discrowned womanhood and bereft of virtue." Overall, pressure was mounting on politicians as society seemingly became increasingly sympathetic to the socio-economic causes of prostitution, and more demanding of opportunities for reform. Click HERE to proceed to Prostitution
in London.
|