Prostitution In Britain (Press, 28 November 1958)
This is a Generative AI summary of this newspaper article. It may contain errors or omissions. Please note that the language in the summary is reflective of the original article and the societal attitudes of the time in which it was written.
Summary: Prostitution In Britain (Press, 28 November 1958)
On 26 November 1958, the Home Secretary, Mr R. A. Butler, addressed the House of Commons regarding new proposed laws focusing on prostitution and homosexuality, following his secret tours of London’s vice areas. According to reports, Mr Butler acknowledged the urgent need to improve the situation in London, where he believed prostitution was more severe than in any other British city. He mentioned the distress and fear felt by the community concerning the state of streets in various regions, particularly in areas like the West End, Paddington, and Stepney. Mr Butler’s discussions with top police officers resulted in a call for urgent action from the Cabinet. He planned to present new legislation that would be informed by insights gathered during the parliamentary debate. Key components of the proposed bill included measures aimed at intervention for young individuals entering prostitution, allowing warnings and involvement of special officials to assist in their reform. The legislation sought to empower police by simplifying the process for charging known prostitutes with soliciting, removing the requirement to demonstrate that someone was annoyed by their actions. Furthermore, the proposals included stricter penalties, such as substantial fines and imprisonment for repeated soliciting offences, and an increased maximum penalty from two to five years for men profiting from a woman's immoral earnings. When addressing the subject of homosexuality, Mr Butler recognised the significant portion of the population that firmly opposed such conduct and expressed concern that any legislative shift might suggest approval or tolerance for what they considered a serious moral issue. As a consequence, he asserted that the government deemed it inappropriate at that time to move forward with legislative changes regarding the recommendations of the Wolfenden Committee on homosexuality.
Important Information
The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact
The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand