Historian Patricia Anderson notes that "the Victorians were by no means as Victorian as we used to think."[1] She refers to the common perception that the Victorians were exceptionally prudish and repressed when it came to sexuality, which is still the perception that many non-historians have on the topic.[2] Françoise Barret-DuCrocq explains that the social class of the Victorian in question had an impact on their views on sexual behavior and morality.[3] Class-based views on sexuality combined with endemic poverty led to a proliferation of prostitution in late nineteenth-century England, particularly in naval ports, army towns, and large cities.

Most of the statistics related to prostitution in Victorian England are estimates only, based on police reporting or speculation, and many of the numbers come from...

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