Later attempts to penalize prostitution proved unsuccessful: lodgings lodgings denoting places where prostitutes lived, not where they worked were recorded to house prostitutes in , while lodgings were recorded barely over a decade later, a very marginal decrease Acton 7.
However, the numbers are inconclusive when it comes to the prevalence of prostitution in Victorian London. Mayhew lists a range of earlier figures from , half a decade before his book was published: the Bishop of Exeter claimed a figure of 80, in London, a police magistrate, Mr. Colquhoun concluded that there were 50,, while the City Police put forth a figure of One doctor and writer who was particularly outspoken about the topic of prostitution was William Acton, in his book Prostitution: Its Moral, Social, and Sanitary Aspects.
The book was controversial, primarily elucidating issues of morality and health regarding prostitution. The visitor, on passing the doors, finds himself in a spacious room, the fittings of which are of the most costly description, while brilliant gas illuminations, reflected by numerous mirrors, impart a fairy-like aspect to the scene. The company is, of course, mixed. Many of the men resorting to such places seek no doubt the opportunity of indulging their vicious propensities; but the majority of the better class go merely to while away an idle hour.
Acton These were actually relatively well-decorated venues that were among the finest places to house prostitutes. Typically, sexual intercourse did not even take place at these sites.
It is interesting that Acton remarks that the women who frequent dancing-rooms do not have the appearance of prostitutes, but look more like mistresses, suggesting that dancing-halls employed prostitutes of a higher class, beyond the common harlots shared by soldiers and sailors who had intercourse with up to 20 or 23 men in one night 5.
