In
the 1860s the age of consent was twelve years old. Some people such
as Josephine Butler and Barbara
Bodichon were concerned that young girls were being sold to brothels.
They became involved in the campaign against the white
slave trade and in 1875 the House of Commons
agreed to raise the age of consent to thirteen.
Campaigners were not satisfied with this change
and continued to argue for further reform. In 1885 William
Stead and Bramwell Booth of the Salvation
Army joined forces to expose what they believed was an increase
in child prostitution. In July 1885, Stead purchased Eliza Armstrong,
a thirteen year-old daughter of a chimney-sweep, to show how easy
it was to procure young girls for prostitution. Stead published an
account of his investigations in the Pall Mall
Gazette entitled Maiden Tribute of
Modern Babylon.
In September, William Stead and five others were charged with unlawfully
kidnapping a minor and committed for trial at the Old
Bailey. Stead was found guilty and was imprisoned for three months
in Holloway Gaol. As a result of the publicity that the Armstrong
case generated, Parliament in 1885 passed the Criminal
Law Amendment Act that raised the age of consent from thirteen
to sixteen, strengthened existing legislation against prostitution
and proscribed all homosexual relations.
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