5.2.2

Prostitution

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Prostitution in Whitechapel

Many women resorted to prostitution to avoid poverty.

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Survival

  • The problem of extreme poverty led many women taking up work as prostitutes in order to survive.
  • This type of work was not usually a choice for women but rather a necessity due to the desperate situation they were in.
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Prostitutes and alcoholism

  • Often the lives of female prostitutes were dictated by a dependence on alcohol leading them to this type of work to fund their habit.
  • Many would find work to afford their drink and then find further work once the money ran out to fund their board for the night.
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The danger of prostitution

  • Prostitution was incredibly dangerous as it made these women vulnerable to crime.
  • Again it is believed that all the victims of Jack the Ripper had worked or were working as prostitutes at the time of their murder.

Jump to other topics

1Medieval England, 1000-1500

2Early Modern England, 1500-1700

318th & 19th Century Britain

4Modern Britain, 1900-Present

5Whitechapel Local Study

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