Pathologizing Children

Abstract

The question of child rape or “seduction” was considered a crucial factor in the creation of prostitutes. Rescue workers claimed that most prostitutes had been seduced by the time they were sixteen. Josephine Butler maintained that if girls were prevented from ‘falling’ at such an early age, it was quite likely that they would not enter into prostitution. Without a recognition of the effects of the ‘vice of men’, Butler asserted that a ‘permanent harlot class’ would always be sustained.¹ It was argued that if the age of consent was raised to an age when girls could understand the implications of sexual activity, this would go a long way towards the prevention of prostitution.