system. Some of the superfluous or neglected women,
utilizing their money
value and perhaps at the same time reviving traditions of an earlier
freedom, find their social function in selling their
favors to gratify the
temporary desires of the men who have not yet been able to acquire wives.
Thus every link in the chain of the marriage system is firmly welded and
the complete circle formed.
But while the history of the rise and development of
prostitution shows us
how indestructible and essential an element prostitution is of the
marriage system which has long prevailed in Europe--
under very varied
racial, political, social, and religious conditions--it yet fails to
supply us in every respect with the data necessary to
reach a definite
attitude towards prostitution to-day. In order to
understand the place of
prostitution in our existing system, it is necessary
that we should
analyze the chief factors of prostitution. We may most conveniently learn
to understand these if we consider prostitution, in
order, under four
aspects. These are: (1) _economic_ necessity; (2)
_biological_
predisposition; (3) _moral_ advantages; and (4) what may be called its
_civilizational_ value.
While these four factors of prostitution seem to me
those that here
chiefly concern us, it is scarcely necessary to point
out that many other
causes contribute to produce and modify prostitution.
Prostitutes
themselves often seek to lead other girls to adopt the same paths;
recruits must be found for brothels, whence we have the
"white slave
trade," which is now being energetically combated in many parts of the
world; while all the forms of seduction towards this
life are favored and
often predisposed to by alcoholism. It will generally be found that
several causes have combined to push a girl into the
career of
prostitution.
The ways in which various factors of environment and
suggestion
unite to lead a girl into the paths of prostitution
are indicated
in the following statement in which a correspondent
has set forth
his own conclusions on this matter as a man of the
world: "I have
had a somewhat varied experience among loose women,
and can say,
without hesitation, that not more than 1 per cent,
of the women I
have known could be regarded as educated. This
indicates that
almost invariably they are of humble origin, and the
terrible
cases of overcrowding that are daily brought to
light suggest
that at very early ages the sense of modesty becomes
extinct, and
long before puberty a familiarity with things sexual
takes place.
As soon as they are old enough these girls are
seduced by their
sweethearts; the familiarity with which they regard
sexual
matters removes the restraint which surrounds a girl
whose early
life has been spent in decent surroundings. Later
they go to work
in factories and shops; if pretty and attractive,
they consort
with managers and foremen. Then the love of finery,
which forms
so large a part of the feminine character, tempts
the girl to
become the 'kept' woman of some man of means. A
remarkable thing
in this connection is the fact that they rarely
enjoy excitement
with their protectors, preferring rather the coarser
embraces of
some man nearer their own station in life, very
often a soldier.
I have not known many women who were seduced and
deserted, though
this is a fiction much affected by prostitutes.
Barmaids supply a
considerable number to the ranks of prostitution,
largely on
account of their addiction to drink; drunkenness
invariably leads
to laxness of moral restraint in women. Another
potent factor in
the production of prostitutes lies in the flare of
finery
flaunted by some friend who has adopted the life. A
girl, working
hard to live, sees some friend, perhaps making a
call in the
street where the hard-working girl lives, clothed in
finery,
while she herself can hardly get enough to eat. She
has a
conversation with her finely-clad friend who tells
her how easily
she can earn money, explaining what a vital asset
the sexual
organs are, and soon another one is added to the
ranks."
There is some interest in considering the reasons
assigned for
prostitutes entering their career. In some countries
this has
been estimated by those who come closely into
official or other
contact with prostitutes. In other countries, it is
the rule for
girls, before they are registered as prostitutes, to
state the
reasons for which they desire to enter the career.
Parent-Duchâtelet, whose work on prostitutes in
Paris is still an
authority, presented the first estimate of this
kind. He found
that of over five thousand prostitutes, 1441 were
influenced by
poverty, 1425 by seduction of lovers who had
abandoned them,
1255 by the loss of parents from death or other
cause. By such an
estimate, nearly the whole number are accounted for
by
wretchedness, that is by economic causes, alone
(Parent-Duchâtelet, _De la Prostitution_, 1857, vol.
i, p. 107).
In Brussels during a period of twenty years (1865-
1884) 3505
women were inscribed as prostitutes. The causes they
assigned for
desiring to take to this career present a different
picture from
that shown by Parent-Duchâtelet, but perhaps a more
reliable one,
although there are some marked and curious
discrepancies. Out of
the 3505, 1523 explained that extreme poverty was
the cause of
their degradation; 1118 frankly confessed that their
sexual
passions were the cause; 420 attributed their fall
to evil
company; 316 said they were disgusted and weary of
their work,
because the toil was so arduous and the pay so
small; 101 had
been abandoned by their lovers; 10 had quarrelled
with their
parents; 7 were abandoned by their husbands; 4 did
not agree with
their guardians; 3 had family quarrels; 2 were
compelled to
prostitute themselves by their husbands, and 1 by
her parents
(_Lancet_, June 28, 1890, p. 1442).
In London, Merrick found that of 16,022 prostitutes
who passed
through his hands during the years he was chaplain
at Millbank
prison, 5061 voluntarily left home or situation for
"a life of
pleasure;" 3363 assigned poverty as the cause; 3154
were
"seduced" and drifted on to the street; 1636 were betrayed by
promises of marriage and abandoned by lover and
relations. On the
whole, Merrick states, 4790, or nearly one-third of
the whole
number, may be said to owe the adoption of their
career directly
to men, 11,232 to other causes. He adds that of
those pleading
poverty a large number were indolent and incapable
(G.P. Merrick,
_Work Among the Fallen_, p. 38).
Logan, an English city missionary with an extensive
acquaintance
with prostitutes, divided them into the following
groups: (1)
One-fourth of the girls are servants, especially in
public
houses, beer shops, etc., and thus led into the
life; (2)
one-fourth come from factories, etc.; (3) nearly
one-fourth are
recruited by procuresses who visit country towns,
markets, etc.;
(4) a final group includes, on the one hand, those
who are
induced to become prostitutes by destitution, or
indolence, or a
bad temper, which unfits them for ordinary
avocations, and, on
the other hand, those who have been seduced by a
false promise of
marriage (W. Logan, _The Great Social Evil_, 1871,
p. 53).
In America Sanger has reported the results of
inquiries made of
two thousand New York prostitutes as to the causes
which induced
them to take up their avocation:
Destitution
525
Inclination
513
Seduced and abandoned
258
Drink and desire for drink
181
Ill-treatment by parents, relations, or husbands
164
As an easy life
124
Bad company
84
Persuaded by prostitutes
71
Too idle to work
29
Violated
27
Seduced on emigrant ship
16
Seduced in emigrant boarding homes
8
-----
2,000
(Sanger, _History of Prostitution_, p. 488.)
In America, again, more recently, Professor Woods
Hutchinson put
himself into communication with some thirty
representative men in
various great metropolitan centres, and thus
summarizes the
answers as regards the etiology of prostitution:
Per cent.
Love of display, luxury and idleness
42.1
Bad family surroundings
23.8
Seduction in which they were innocent victims
11.3
Lack of employment
9.4
Heredity
7.8
Primary sexual appetite
5.6
(Woods Hutchinson, "The Economics of
Prostitution," _American
Gynæcologic and Obstetric Journal_, September,
1895; _Id., The
Gospel According to Darwin_, p. 194.)
In Italy, in 1881, among 10,422 inscribed
prostitutes from the
age of seventeen upwards, the causes of prostitution
were
classified as follows:
Vice and depravity
2,752
Death of parents, husband, etc.
2,139
Seduction by lover
1,653
Seduction by employer
927
Abandoned by parents, husband, etc.
794
Love of luxury
698
Incitement by lover or other persons outside
family
666
Incitement by parents or husband
400
To support parents or children
393
(Ferriani, _Minorenni Delinquenti_, p. 193.) The
reasons
assigned by Russian prostitutes for taking up
their career are
(according to Federow) as follows:
38.5 per cent. insufficient wages.
21. per cent. desire for amusement.
14. per cent. loss of place.
9.5 per cent. persuasion by women friends.
6.5 per cent. loss of habit of work.
5.5 per cent. chagrin, and to punish lover.
.5 per cent. drunkenness.
(Summarized in _Archives d'Anthropologie
Criminelle_, Nov. 15,
1901.)
1. _The Economic Causation of Prostitution_.--Writers on prostitution
frequently assert that economic conditions lie at the
root of prostitution
and that its chief cause is poverty, while prostitutes themselves often
declare that the difficulty of earning a livelihood in other ways was a
main cause in inducing them to adopt this career. "Of all the causes of
prostitution," Parent-Duchâtelet wrote a century ago,
"particularly in
Paris, and probably in all large cities, none is more
active than lack of
work and the misery which is the inevitable result of
insufficient wages."
In England, also, to a large extent, Sherwell states,
"morals fluctuate
with trade."[164] It is equally so in Berlin where the number of
registered prostitutes increases during bad years.[165]
It is so also in
America. It is the same in Japan; "the cause of causes is poverty."[166]
Thus the broad and general statement that prostitution is largely or
mainly an economic phenomenon, due to the low wages of women or to sudden
depressions in trade, is everywhere made by
investigators. It must,
however, be added that these general statements are
considerably qualified
in the light of the detailed investigations made by
careful inquirers.
Thus Ströhmberg, who minutely investigated 462
prostitutes, found that
only one assigned destitution as the reason for adopting her career, and
on investigation this was found to be an impudent
lie.[167] Hammer found
that of ninety registered German prostitutes not one had entered on the
career out of want or to support a child, while some
went on the street
while in the possession of money, or without wishing to be paid.[168]
Pastor Buschmann, of the Teltow Magdalene Home in
Berlin, finds that it is
not want but indifference to moral considerations which leads girls to
become prostitutes. In Germany, before a girl is put on the police
register, due care is always taken to give her a chance of entering a Home
and getting work; in Berlin, in the course of ten years, only two
girls--out of thousands--were willing to take advantage of this
opportunity. The difficulty experienced by English
Rescue Homes in finding
girls who are willing to be "rescued" is notorious. The same difficulty is
found in other cities, even where entirely different
conditions prevail;
thus it is found in Madrid, according to Bernaldo de
Quirós and Llanas
Aguilaniedo, that the prostitutes who enter the Homes, notwithstanding all
the devotion of the nuns, on leaving at once return to their old life.
While the economic factor in prostitution undoubtedly
exists, the undue
frequency and emphasis with which it is put forward and accepted is
clearly due, in part to ignorance of the real facts, in part to the fact
that such an assumption appeals to those whose weakness it is to explain
all social phenomena by economic causes, and in part to its obvious
plausibility.[169]
Prostitutes are mainly recruited from the ranks of
factory girls, domestic
servants, shop girls, and waitresses. In some of these occupations it is
difficult to obtain employment all the year round. In
this way many
milliners, dressmakers and tailoresses become
prostitutes when business is
slack, and return to business when the season begins.
Sometimes the
regular work of the day is supplemented concurrently by prostitution in
the street in the evening. It is said, possibly with
some truth, that
amateur prostitution of this kind is extremely prevalent in England, as it
is not checked by the precautions which, in countries
where prostitution
is regulated, the clandestine prostitute must adopt in order to avoid
registration. Certain public lavatories and dressing-
rooms in central
London are said to be used by the girls for putting on, and finally
washing off before going home, the customary paint.[170]
It is certain
that in England a large proportion of parents belonging to the working and
even lower middle class ranks are unacquainted with the nature of the
lives led by their own daughters. It must be added,
also, that
occasionally this conduct of the daughter is winked at or encouraged by
the parents; thus a correspondent writes that he "knows some towns in
England where prostitution is not regarded as anything disgraceful, and
can remember many cases where the mother's house has
been used by the
daughter with the mother's knowledge."
Acton, in a well-informed book on London prostitution, written in the
middle of the last century, said that prostitution is "a transitory stage,
through which an untold number of British women are ever on their
passage."[171] This statement was strenuously denied at the time by many
earnest moralists who refused to admit that it was
possible for a woman
who had sunk into so deep a pit of degradation ever to climb out again,
respectably safe and sound. Yet it is certainly true as regards a
considerable proportion of women, not only in England, but in other
countries also. Thus Parent-Duchâtelet, the greatest
authority on French
prostitution, stated that "prostitution is for the majority only a
transitory stage; it is quitted usually during the first year; very few
prostitutes continue until extinction." It is difficult, however, to
ascertain precisely of how large a proportion this is
true; there are no
data which would serve as a basis for exact
estimation,[172] and it is
impossible to expect that respectable married women
would admit that they
had ever been "on the streets"; they would not, perhaps, always admit it
even to themselves.
The following case, though noted down over twenty
years ago, is
fairly typical of a certain class, among the lower
ranks of
prostitution, in which the economic factor counts
for much, but
in which we ought not too hastily to assume that it
is the sole
factor.
Widow, aged thirty, with two children. Works in an
umbrella
manufactory in the East End of London, earning
eighteen shillings
a week by hard work, and increasing her income by
occasionally
going out on the streets in the evenings. She haunts
a quiet side
street which is one of the approaches to a large
city railway
terminus. She is a comfortable, almost matronly-
looking woman,
quietly dressed in a way that is only noticeable
from the skirts
being rather short. If spoken to she may remark that
she is
"waiting for a lady friend," talks in an affected way about the
weather, and parenthetically introduces her offers.
She will
either lead a man into one of the silent neighboring
lanes filled
with warehouses, or will take him home with her. She
is willing
to accept any sum the man may be willing or able to
give;
occasionally it is a sovereign, sometimes it is only
a sixpence;
on an average she earns a few shillings in an
evening. She had
only been in London for ten months; before that she
lived in
Newcastle. She did not go on the streets there;
"circumstances
alter cases," she sagely remarks. Though not
speaking well of
the police, she says they do not interfere with her
as they do
with some of the girls. She never gives them money,
but hints
that it is sometimes necessary to gratify their
desires in order
to keep on good terms with them.
It must always be remembered, for it is sometimes
forgotten by socialists
and social reformers, that while the pressure of poverty exerts a markedly
modifying influence on prostitution, in that it
increases the ranks of the
women who thereby seek a livelihood and may thus be
properly regarded as a
factor of prostitution, no practicable raising of the
rate of women's
wages could possibly serve, directly and alone, to
abolish prostitution.
De Molinari, an economist, after remarking that
"prostitution is an
industry" and that if other competing industries can offer women
sufficiently high pecuniary inducements they will not be so frequently
attracted to prostitution, proceeds to point out that
that by no means
settles the question. "Like every other industry
prostitution is governed
by the demand of the need to which it responds. As long as that need and
that demand persist, they will provoke an offer. It is the need and the
demand that we must act on, and perhaps science will
furnish us the means
to do so."[173] In what way Molinari expects science to diminish the
demand for prostitutes, however, is not clearly brought out.
Not only have we to admit that no practicable rise in
the rate of wages
paid to women in ordinary industries can possibly
compete with the wages
which fairly attractive women of quite ordinary ability can earn by
prostitution,[174] but we have also to realize that a
rise in general
prosperity--which alone can render a rise of women's
wages healthy and
normal--involves a rise in the wages of prostitution,
and an increase in
the number of prostitutes. So that if good wages is to be regarded as the
antagonist of prostitution, we can only say that it more than gives back
with one hand what it takes with the other. To so marked a degree is this
the case that Després in a detailed moral and
demographic study of the
distribution of prostitution in France comes to the
conclusion that we
must reverse the ancient doctrine that "poverty
engenders prostitution"
since prostitution regularly increases with wealth,[175]
and as a