Victorian prostitution is a vicious cycle that ultimately in this era lead to death. Medical treatment for venereal disease was almost non-existent and items such as condoms were new and rarely used. Many women turned to prostitution out of need, for example, a working-class girl would make barely enough money to feed herself, she had no husband to care for her and needed a way to make money. She would turn to prostitution because it was easy and lucrative. She likely had the intention of only being “in the business” for a couple years to gain enough income to begin a new life. However, her new job as a prostitute would generally lead to a disease such as syphilis which had no cure, would spread through her job and would lead to her untimely death. Or she would become the victim of another person trying to rid the world this “fallen woman”.
Humanities 101 