1885 was a year of scandals around child sexual exploitation, high-profile clients, and trafficking of young girls. Popular outrage led to legal changes, including raising the age of consent to 16 and criminalising ‘gross indecency between males’. This workshop explores the dramatic events and the people involved, and offers an opportunity to consider original documents.
The workshop is led by Caroline Derry and Claire Cunnington.
Bios:
Caroline Derry is Professor of Feminism, Law and History at the Open University. Her recent work looks at law and literature focusing upon lesbianism in Agatha Christie's novels and the criminal courts. Caroline researches several of the first women to qualify as barristers in Britain (including those who practised in England and Wales as well as Malawi and Tanzania's first Black woman barrister). She has published and presented widely on these.
Dr Claire Cunnington joined the Department of Sociological Studies in 2016 at Sheffield University, having worked in the health, education and charity sectors. She was awarded her PhD in 2020. Her research interests are trauma, creativity and interpersonal violence, with a particular focus on childhood sexual abuse (CSA).
