Poverty, Prostitution, Prisons, and Politics: Women and Crime in the Long Nineteenth Century

Abstract

One of the most basic divisions in the study and practice of criminal justice is gender. Modern prisons are separated by biological sex just as they were in Victorian times. However, recent developments give us the possibility of a system in which gender is a more fluid concept and the state recognizes the right of an individual to self-identify – creating divisions among feminists both pro and con. Feminism has a long history of championing the rights of the female offender, with roots reaching back at least to the nineteenth century. Most famously, the suffragettes’ incarcerations helped publicize the plight of their fellow women prisoners. In spite of their publicity and concern however, the problems of women in the justice system remained consistent throughout the 1800s and early 1900s. Poverty, prostitution, and alcoholism were the common denominators, especially for the repeat offenders that made up the bulk of female convict populations. Despite winning minor victories including an increase in female staff, and later the implementation of the welfare state, alcoholism and gendered violence remain.