The Regulation, Representation and Experience of Prostitution in Interwar Liverpool
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights and duplication or sale of all or part is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for research, private study, criticism/review or educational purposes. Electronic or print copies are for your own personal, non- commercial use and shall not be passed to any other individual. No quotation may be published without proper acknowledgement. For any other use, or to quote extensively from the work, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder/s. ‘Hardened offenders’, ‘respectable prostitutes’ and ‘good-time girls’: the regulation, representation and experience of prostitution in interwar Liverpool. Kerry Chamberlain Submitted for the Award of Doctor of Philosophy June 2013 Keele University 1 “To study the history of prostitution itself is to discover that the custom has been continually assailed by attempts at repression and the prostitute herself the object of variable and inconsistent social treatment. She has been offered as a luxury to visiting potentates, treated as a criminal, subjected to extremities of severity, or accorded a sort of semi-recognition. But under whatever circumstances she has survived.” [G.M. Hall, ‘Prostitution and Sex Promiscuity in Several Countries at the Present Time’, unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Liverpool, 1932, p.6.] 2 Abstract Between 1919 and 1936 proceedings for solicitation in Liverpool fell by 98%, with the city having gone from accounting for 17.5% of street prostitution in England and Wales to just 0.3% between these years. So infrequent were arrests against street prostitution by the mid-thirties - for example, in 1934 there were just 10 arrests for solicitation compared to 733 in 1919 - that from 1937 solicitation and brothel offences appeared as an amalgamated category in the local criminal statistical returns. In the national context, proceedings for solicitation fell by 29% between 1919 and 1936, a considerably smaller but nevertheless significant decline. Indeed, this image of decline and improvement seemingly accords with the broader historiography of British prostitution which has tended to conceptualise the interwar period as one of relative stability sandwiched between the upheaval of the First and Second World Wars and emerging from the shadows of Victorian depravity. Crucially, however, in the midst of continued decline prostitution garnered intense political and public attention in Britain throughout the interwar period, crystallised nowhere more palpably than in the establishment of the Street Offences Committee in 1927, the first serious review of prostitution legislation since the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts in the late- nineteenth century. Whilst the past five years have seen the emergence of the first sustained studies of interwar prostitution, the historiography remains geographically limited to London. This thesis offers the first sustained study of prostitution in interwar Liverpool. Through a close reading of Liverpool’s court registers it also marks the first critical examination and ultimately challenge of this concept of decline. In moving beyond the smokescreen of improvement it exposes the period as a complex and distinct moment in the history of British prostitution, and one which allows us to make sense of why at the very time the offence rates were showing unprecedented decline prostitution never strayed far from the political, legal and cultural agendas. 3 Acknowledgements This process has, without doubt, been the most rewarding yet challenging of my life (to date). It has required constant self-discipline, self-motivation and self-reflection. Yet, it is one which I could have never embarked upon nor completed without the support, guidance and opportunities given to me by certain individuals. Firstly, to Matt Houlbrook and Andy Davies at the University of Liverpool, who gave me the skills to succeed at undergraduate level and the confidence to pursue post-graduate study I am truly thankful. Together, they nurtured and guided my interest in modern British history into a defined research specialism. To Professor Barry Godfrey and Professor David Gadd at Keele University who gave me this opportunity in the first instance, and provided me with a vibrant and friendly environment to develop as a researcher. They have always so willingly and generously given me their time, their insight and their support. They have trusted me explicitly to make this thesis my own and to work independently, but their expertise and belief in me has made it all the richer. To the AHRC and ESRC who funded me at MA and PhD respectively, I am grateful to you for recognising the value in my research proposals. Without funding I would have never been able to pursue post-graduate study. I am truly grateful to the individuals and organisations above who gave me these opportunities. Outside of academia I have been blessed with the most supportive and inspiring set of friends. I apologise wholeheartedly for the frequent neglect and the regular moans. You have all kept my feet on the ground, believed in me when often I did not believe in myself, and while we have all taken different paths in life you have all inspired me through your own personal achievements. Finally, and most importantly, to my family. To my wonderful Grandmothers whose tales of their childhoods in London during the Blitz first ignited my passion for history all those years ago. They have both encouraged and inspired me to chase the opportunities which were never available to them, and to do so with integrity and confidence. To my brother who has had to deal with my ‘weirdness’ and determination to be ‘different’, I apologise. To my partner Chris whose relentless patience, faith and pride has kept me going at the hardest of times, not to mention the constant stream of cups of tea. To Chris’ family who treated me as one of their own when I was far from home, who always took a genuine interest in what I was doing and gave me unfaltering 4 support, I will always be thankful. To my father who gave me the spirit and grit to push myself, to question everything and never settle for the ‘norm’, thank you. To my mother, and my best friend, no words are enough ... This thesis is dedicated to the loving memory of my Grandfathers. 5 Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgments 4-5 List of Tables, Graphs and Maps 8-9 Glossary of Abbreviated Terms 10-11 Prologue 12-16 Section One: Context 17 Chapter One: Introduction (1:0)Introduction 18-30 (1:1)Aims and structure 30-36 (1:2)Literature Review 36-38 (1:3)The British historiography: a preoccupation with the nineteenth century 38-39 (1:4)The Contagious Diseases Acts (C.D. Acts) 1864, 1866 and 1869 39-43 (1:5)Reform and prevention: the historiography of the ‘semi-penal’ sphere 44-47 (1:6)Moving beyond the nineteenth century: prostitution in early twentieth century 47-54 Britain (1:7)Contextualising my research 55-60 Chapter Two: Methodology (2:0)Introduction 61-63 (2:1)Methodological approaches to prostitution 63-69 (2:2)My methodological focus 69-70 (2:3)Representations 71 (2:4)Regulation and Control 71-74 (2:5)Experiences 75-79 (2:6)Socio-economic climate 79-81 (2:7)Conclusion 81-82 Section Two: Discourses and Representations 83 Chapter Three: Political and Legal Discourses of Prostitution (3:0)Regulation 40d: A sign of things to come? 84-88 (3:1)The path to the SOC 88-98 (3:2)The establishment of the SOC 98-100 (3:3)The law and its execution in Liverpool 100-109 (3:4)Punishments and penalties: Opinions 109-119 (3:5)Punishments and penalties: Experiences 119-124 (3:6)The recommendations of the SOC and beyond 125-128 Chapter Four: Representations – The Causes of Prostitution (4:0)Introduction 129-130 (4:1)The economics of prostitution 131 (4:2)Poverty and economic need? 131-137 (4:3)Luxuries and individual greed? 137-144 (4:4)Prostitution, ‘white slavery’, and foreignness 144-146 (4:5)Prostitution and sexual inclination 146-151 Section Three: Regulation 152 Chapter Five: The ‘Official’ Policing of Prostitution in Liverpool (5:0)Introduction 153-157 (5:1)The organisation of the LCPF 157-160 (5:2)Policing the ‘professionalized’ professional 160-171 (5:3)Policing the ‘unprofessional’ professional 171-177 (5:4)‘Cleaning the streets’: The sexual geography of prostitution 177-194 (5:5)Corruption 195-200 (5:6)Interpreting the statistics: A culture of concealment? 200-207 (5:7)Policing the ‘good-time’ girl and ‘enthusiastic amateur’ 207-215 6 Chapter Six: The Broader Landscape of Control: A Changing System? (6:0)Introduction 216-222 (6:1)The Liverpool Women Police Patrols (LWPP) 222 (6:2)The establishment of the LWPP 222-223 (6:3)The approaches and anticipations of the LWPP 224-227 (6:4)The LWPP and the regulation of prostitution and promiscuity 227-234 (6:5)The Liverpool Branch of the Jewish Association for the Protection of Girls and 234-238 Women (LJAPGW): A Case of Protecting Jewish Women or Preserving Jewish Reputation? (6:6)The LJAPGW and regulating femininity 238-244 (6:7)The cases of Fanny K and Gertrude G 244-248 (6:8)Conclusion 249 Section Four: Experiences Chapter Seven: Prostitute Experiences within the CJS 250-251 (7:0) Introduction 251 (7:1)Age of women prosecuted 251-257 (7:2)Age of professional prostitutes 257-261 (7:3)Age of amateur prostitutes 261-265 (7:4)Drunkenness and prostitution 265 (7:5)Professional prostitutes as an offending group 265-274 (7:6)Offending rates and spans: Professionals 274 (7:7)Amateurs charged under the LCA 275-276 (7:8)Amateurs becoming professionals?