Prostitution, Women and Misuse of the Law: The Fallen Daughters of Eve

by Self,Helen J.

• ISBN13: 9780714654812
• ISBN10: 0714654817
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This is an examination, from a feminist historian's standpoint, of the background to the present system of regulating prostitution in Britain, which is generally admitted to be not only unjust and discriminatory, but ineffective even in achieving its stated aims. Concentrating on the 1950s, and especially on the Wolfenden Report and the 1959 Street Offences Act, it is a thorough exposure of the sexual double standard and general misogynist assumptions underlying legislation relating to prostitution. In addition to the detailed analysis of the 1950s legislation and the background to it, there is an exposition of the subsequent workings of the Act, and of attempts to amend or repeal it.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
Abbreviations	ix
Introduction	1	(16)
Part I The Regulation of Prostitution: Society and Law
Chapter 1. Technologies of Power	17	(20)
Chapter 2. The Legislative Background	37	(32)
Part II The Wolfenden Committee: Regulating Prostitution in the 1950's
Chapter 3. The Origins of the Report	69	(11)
Chapter 4. Preliminary Organisation	80	(18)
Chapter 5. Listening to the Experts	98	(18)
Chapter 6. Formulating an Offence	116	(15)
Chapter 7. The Report	131	(20)
Chapter 8. The Double Standard	151	(12)
Part III The Law and Society
Chapter 9. The Legislative Legacy	163	(17)
Chapter 10. Moral Matters	180	(37)
Part IV Change and Continuity: The Consequences of Legal Reform
Chapter 11. Legal Reform	217	(12)
Chapter 12. Assessing the Effects of the Street Offences Act 1959	229	(19)
Chapter 13. 'Any Person': Attempting to Reform the Street Offences Act 1959	248	(14)
Chapter 14. Resolving New Problems with More Legislation	262	(26)
Chapter 15. Conclusion	288	(7)
Appendix 1. List of Statutes	295	(1)
Appendix 2. List of Regulations, Statutory Instruments and Home Office Circulars	296
Appendix 3. List of Bills	291	(7)
Appendix 4. List of Cases	298	(1)
Appendix 5. Wolfenden Committee Final Recommendations	299	(2)
Bibliography	301	(12)
Index	313