A History of Sex Work Criminalisation in the UK

Lecture recording

A newspaper front page from 1885, with black text on white background, including an in engraved image of a young white woman's face in the centre. The text decrys the horrors of the 'white slave trade'.

The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon 1885 (American Reprint)

Two pages of an open book from 1850, with a pen and ink illustration of a semi-nude woman rising from the sea.

The Man of Pleasure’s Illustrated Pocket-Book from 1850

A white background with a paragraph of black text quoting Mary Gordon, a British prison inspector, on the definition of the

A excerpt from Penal Discipline (1922) by Mary Louisa Gordon (1861-1941), a British physician, prison inspector and writer.

A brightly coloured illustration from 1913 for the film 'Traffic in Souls'. A woman in a white dress and black hat tries to open the door of the room she is trapped inside. Behind her is a man in a blue suit with a moustache and brown skin, as well as another frightened looking white woman in a green dress.

Traffic in Souls (1913) directed by George Loane Tucker (1872-1921)

A poster from the early 1900s showing a frightened young white woman behind bars. Behind her is the shadowy figure of the brown man who has imprisoned her.

An example of visual material from the 1900s white slavery panic

A black and white photograph of Alison Roberta Neilans, a white woman with wavy brown hair and glasses. She wears a loose-fitting, long sleeved blouse afixed with a bow at the collar.

Alison Roberta Noble Neilans (1884–1942), an early advocate for the decriminalisation of prostitution.

Lady of the Night School was a two part course that ran for three months between October to December 2021, and again between April to June 2022. Each month we collectively explored a new topic. The focus was less on current legislations and campaigns, and more on how we got to where we are today.

This is an archive of each session in the series. Here you will find recordings, reading lists, audio, and summaries of each section, as well as details of our hosts and where you can find them now.

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A History of Sex Work Criminalisation (October 2021)

This session examined the criminalisation of women's sexual labour in London from the mid-19th century to the 1960s. We looked at relevant histories of trafficking and migration, and at early 20th century decriminalisation campaigns. Dr Julia Laite shared her research on the effects of criminalisation on the sex industry and the experiences of women who sold sex, while emphasising how these laws intersect with gender, class, and race.

  • Lecture by Dr Julia Laite (Thursday 7th October, 7.00 – 8.30pm, online)

  • Seminar by Alex Wanjiku Kelbert (Monday 18th October, 6.30 – 8.30pm, online)

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Julia Laite is a Reader in Modern History and Director of the Raphael Samuel History Centre at at Birkbeck, University of London. She researches and teaches on the history of women, crime, sexuality and migration in the nineteenth and twentieth century British world and is the author of Common Prostitutes and Ordinary Citizens: Commercial Sex in London (2012) and (with Samantha Caslin) Wolfenden’s Women: A Critical Sourcebook (2020). Her latest book, The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A True Story of Sex, Crime and the Meaning of Justice, was published with Profile Books in April, 2021.

Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert is a London-based educator and activist. She is a member of Black Lives Matter UK and the Wretched of the Earth collective. Her work focuses mainly on race and racism, climate justice, black feminism and radical imagination. @WanjiKelbert

Transcript
Summary

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This course is made possible with generous support from the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

A History of Sex Work Criminalisation was the first session in the first series of our popular education course Lady of the Night School.

The topics included:

  • A History of Sex Work Criminalisation in the UK

  • Trans Sex Workers Through History

  • Latin American Sex Worker Struggles

  • Sex Workers Built the Internet

  • Anti Trafficking in the Caribbean

  • Sex Worker Art and Creative Practices

Year: 2021
Type: public lecture
Series: lady of the night school
Subject(s): criminalisation uk