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Image credits: The Women's Library, London Metrpolitan University - see image references at the end
Key class numbers and search terms
Key references, latest academic works and acquisitions
Periodicals
Press cuttings and ephemera
Zines and artist books
Electronic resources
Archives (personal and organisational papers, oral histories)
Museum (objects, textiles and visual materials)
Identifying images
Further information
The Women's Library, founded in 1926 as the Library of the London Society for Women's Service, exists to document and explore women's lives in Britain in the past, now and in the future. Printed material, ephemera, archives, oral histories and museum objects together form The Women's Library collections. The collections cover a range of topics including women's rights, suffrage, sexuality, health, education, employment, reproductive rights, the family and the home and are the most extensive resource for women's history in the UK.
The collections include a wide range of resources for the study of women and prostitution. In addition to contemporary books, pamphlets and periodicals on the sex trade and trafficking of women the library also holds 19th century materials concerning campaigns against the state regulation of prostitution. The Josephine Butler Society Library contains most of the historic collection and contains material on prostitution, venereal disease, sexuality and public health as well as attitudes to morality and social purity. The Library holds relevant press cuttings and ephemera as well as archives of campaigning organisations and personal papers relating to prostitution. The Library also provides access to many electronic resources.
Key class numbers and search terms
The printed collections of The Women's Library are arranged in the Dewey Decimal Classification and listed on the online catalogue, available in the Reading Room and via the website. Key class numbers and search terms for prostitution include:
Key reference sources
The Library holds the following guides and bibliographies, useful for identifying further information and material on the subject:
Banks, Olive. The biographical dictionary of British feminists Vol.1 1800-1930 Brighton Wheatsheaf Books Harvester Press distributor. 1985. Reading Room Quick Ref 305.420922 BAN
Bullough, Vern…[et al] (ed). A bibliography of prostitution New York ; London : Garland, 1977. Reading Room 016.30674 BIB
Ditmore, Melissa Hope (ed). Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex work. Vols.1 & 2 Wesport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2006 Reading Room 306.7403 ENC
Gordon, Peter. Dictionary of British women's organisations, 1825-1960 London: Portland, Or: Woburn Press 2001. Reading Room Quick Ref 305.406041 GOR
Kramarae, Cheris and Spender, Dale (eds). Routledge international encyclopedia of women global women's issues and knowledge New York: London: Routledge, 2000. Reading Room Quick Ref 305.403. ROU
Nash, Stanley.,Prostitution in Great Britain, 1485-1901: an annotated bibliography Metuchen, N.J. ; London : Scarecrow Press, 1994 Vault Josephine Butler 016.3067420941 NAS
The Women's Library's recently published and newly available acquisitions
Periodicals
The Library holds a wide range of periodicals on women, including academic titles, popular magazines and campaigning newsletters. Some relevant periodical titles on prostitution are The Shield: to promote the repeal of Contagious Diseases Act, Network: news from the English Collective of Prostitutes and WHISPER: Women hurt in systems of prostitution engaged in revolt. Further periodical titles on the subject can be identified through the online catalogue.
For further guidance on identifying periodicals click here.
Press cuttings and ephemera
The presscuttings collections cover the whole of the 20th century and are particularly valuable for identifying contemporary comment where retrospective online newspaper coverage is unavailable. The Library holds microfilmed cuttings, up to 1979, on prostitution.The biographical press cuttings supplement the printed biographies collection and are a useful source of information about women who have been involved in campaigns related to prostitution and health.
The Library's ephemera collection contains information relating to women's organisations, including leaflets, flyers, minutes of meetings, agendas and all kinds of campaign literature. It includes ephemera ephemera for the International Abolitionist Federation, Street Offences Act and the Committee on the State Regulation of Vice.
Zines and artist books
The Library's collections currently include more than 350 zines and 27 artist books.
Electronic resources
Electronic resources (online journals and databases) are currently only available to London Metropolitan University staff and students, and can be accessed via the online catalogue with their institutional identification and password. London Metropolitan Academic Liaison Librarians have provided a list of relevant e-resources.
Archives (personal and organisational papers, oral histories)
A brief guide to the archives is available on The Women's Library's website. Further details of archives available for research can be found on the archives and museum catalogue or in the hand lists in the Reading Room on the shelves adjacent to the Information Desk. The following archives, including records of organisations, societies, campaigns, personal papers, letters, and oral histories, relate to prostitution
3AMS Association for Moral and Social Hygiene
3BGF British, Continental & General Federation for Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution, 1875-1915
3HJW Wilson, Henry J, 1833-1914, MP for Holmfirth
3JBL Josephine Butler Letters (available on microfilm)
3JSM James Stansfeld Memorial Trust, 1895-1934
3LCA Lancashire and Cheshire Association for the Abolition of State Regulation of Vice, 1894-1939
3LNA Ladies' National Association for Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1875-1915
3NAR National Association for Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1871-1890
4BNC British National Committee for the Suppression of White Slave Traffic, 1928- 1970
4BVA British Vigilance Association, 1923-1971
4IBS International Bureau for Suppression of Traffic in Persons, 1899-1970
4NVA National Vigilance Association, 1885-1969
4RFR Russell, Richard F
4TAS Travellers Aid Society, 1885-1939
9/11 Autograph Letter Collection: Letters related to William Thomas Stead
10/03 Scrapbook [on women's suffrage and the campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts]
10/50 Scrapbooks on prostitution
Museum (objects, textiles and visual materials)
The museum collection comprises of postcards, photographs, posters, banners and badges. Further details of museum objects available for research can be found in the archive and museum catalogue or in the hard copy catalogues available in the Reading Room on the shelves adjacent to the Enquiry Desk. Specifically the collection includes posters used in the campaign against the Contagious Diseases Act TWL.2000.168. Search terms include prostitut* Additional objects are held in the archives listed above, especially 3AM Association for Social & Moral Hygience photographs, posters and postcards.
Identifying images
Images can be found throughout The Women's Library's collections. Many digital images are available on Flickr, Vads, the archives catalogue (click on the number in the left hand side) and Mary Evans Picture Library. Use Mary Evans Picture Library's fast service for a non-watermarked high resolution images suitable for publication. If you require an image which has not been digitised you are welcome to use our reprographic service. Normal copyright conditions will apply.
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Web Archive
Women's Issues is maintained by the British Library in collaboration with the Women's Library, London Metropolitan University. The collection was established in 2005 and has regularly collected web sites since then. It includes sites of women's organisations and campaigns, research reports, government publications and statistics pertaining to women, personal sites of women, such as blogs, and women focused e-zines such as The truth isn't sexy
Further information
The staff of The Women's Library can help you find material relating to your subject area; please don't hesitate to ask. You can contact the Information Desk staff prior to your visit via email twlinfodesk@londonmet.ac.uk, telephone 020 7320 3515, or by asking at the Information Desk in the Reading Room on the day of your visit.
Image references: Josphine Butler centenary poster 3AMS/H/01/04a ; Poster: County Borough of Salford : Venereal diseases 3AMS/O/120 ; Poster: seven scenes telling the story of a man who visited a prostitute, contracted syphillis, infected his children who appear to be now blind, he attended a STD clinic, received treatment, and the last scene his family is happy, apparently cured. 3AMS/O/118
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