East End prostitution today

[Nurse Sarah]

I thought MJK was meant to be pretty, Im sure they werent all 'bad' back in 1888 anyway...you get pretty ones and plain ones today...

[Mascara & Paranoia]

Im sure they werent all 'bad' back in 1888 anyway...you get pretty ones and plain ones today...

Exactly. I've seen pictures of Victorian and early 1900's people in the photo thread and I was surprised that the majority of them looked more or less the same as people do today, aside from their clothes.

[Nurse Sarah]

Precisely! I agree...Ive seen many Victorian/Edwardian photos with handsome men and women...

There wasn't plastic surgery or a wide variety of make up and hairdressers/beauty salons available in the 1880s East End, so Im told anyway...

[Rob1n]

I won't say how I know but in my line of work I have cause to know.

There are a lot of independent "Escorts" in the area, mainly East Europeans working out of flats be they Council or private rent.

There are "Street walkers" still out there but, no too many nowadays.

There is an element of Gang related prostitution In the area mainly Romanian

Then again, there are still, as there were in1888, if you like "normal" people living near the breadline who will casually escort to make ends meet.

It certainly is true to say that Whitechapel still has its share of "Ladies of the night".

[yen_powell]

There was a long running problem with prostitution in Old Montague Street about 15 years back, not so much the girls, but the men who drove round and round kerb crawling causing the trouble.

A CCTV camera was put in to discourage the girls/kerb crawlers, but the opposite happened, the girls felt safe if the cars they got in were seen by the cameras, if anything bad happened there was at least a record of the registration. As a result they would gather as close to the camera as they could.

[mrmajester]

Was walking down Osborn Street, about three weeks ago, quiet Sunday afternoon around 5. Outside The Archers Tavern were two working girls, both British, both foul mouthed and either drunk or as high as kites. Hard looking they were as well and they were arguing with what looked like a pimp. Guy in his '30's on a pushbike, telling them when they had to go. It was quite an eye opener. My other half didn't feel comfortable at all.

I commented to her that we had just seen the modern day equivalent of those poor unfortunate girls from 1888. Sad.

[Observer]

Hi mrmajester

The operative words in your post being "didn't feel comfortable." This brings to mind Levy, and his prophetic words,

"Look there, I don't like going home by myself when I see those characters about,"

Mr Levy, in harmony with your wife knew what was going down.

Old Montague Street harbours very similar scenes as the one you describe.

Regards

Observer

[Bridewell]

I recall seeing some kind of charitable enterprise operating in the area, dedicated to providing welfare assistance, of a sort, to local prostitutes. In an area so close to the wealth of the City it would be remarkable if there were not prostitutes actively at work in the area.

[crberger]

Having known a few prostitutes...

they are, as a rule, quite nice; just the same as everybody else, but usually a bit more honest about what they are selling. Got to know quite a few in a number of countries and always traded information with them. Respect goes a long way...

[WARSPITE]

There was a long running problem with prostitution in Old Montague Street about 15 years back, not so much the girls, but the men who drove round and round kerb crawling causing the trouble.

A CCTV camera was put in to discourage the girls/kerb crawlers, but the opposite happened, the girls felt safe if the cars they got in were seen by the cameras, if anything bad happened there was at least a record of the registration. As a result they would gather as close to the camera as they could.

Yes, I remember plodding down Old Monty St about 20yrs ago, and there were quote a few girls and kerb crawlers. These were the pre-internet days.
Most streetwalkers can be difficult to spot, and almost all will have drug dependency, driving them to the streets.

[Bridewell]

Most streetwalkers can be difficult to spot, and almost all will have drug dependency, driving them to the streets.

Agree about the drug dependency which is usually present.

Not so sure about "difficult to spot" though. They were never that difficult to spot in my time - stayed in one place - bent down to look into passing cars - and wore skirts which ended about 18" above the knee!

[Ginger]

Most streetwalkers can be difficult to spot

I should think they want to be fairly obvious. They're trying to attract customers, after all.

[K-453]

I was talking to an Irish lady at the end of Quaker Street the other day, who told me she was just out untill she'd earned the £7.00 she needed to pay her electricity bill the next day.

Modern counterpart of Polly and Annie ...

[HelenaWojtczak]

I commented to her that we had just seen the modern day equivalent of those poor unfortunate girls from 1888. Sad.

THIS ^ ^ ^ is the tragedy of it. To me it's almost beyond belief that, 125 years later, after the Sex Discrimination Act, Equal Pay Act of forty years ago, and all the other legislative and social changes that have happened since the 1970s with regard to bringing women upwards to be men's equals in this country, and despite the existence of state benefits that did not exist in 1888, that on the street nothing much has changed. Women are still being controlled by pimps; women who are so unemployable that they cannot make a living any other way, selling the only thing that anyone will pay them for; the use of substances to make the "transactions" bearable (gin etc then; cocaine etc today).

Prostitution really is completely incompatible with the equality that women supposedly have today.

Helena

[JTRSickert]

Not a nice comment.

Hi babybird & John,

I just wanted to say that, even though I made this comment many years ago, it's not too late to apologize, right?

It was a naive and stupid comment and, more than anything, disrespectful. I take it back with a full apologetic attitude and promise never to make any disrespectful comments concerning the subjects of this case (past and present) ever again.