Prostitution, Women and Misuse of the Law

Download or read book Prostitution, Women and Misuse of the Law written by Helen J. Self and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.