A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil

An extended social-study documents the commercial sexual exploitation of young women in urban settings and the social conditions that produce it. It examines economic hardship, broken home surroundings, and popular amusements that make vulnerable girls susceptible to exploitation. The author reviews legal enactments, municipal policing, philanthropic rescue efforts, and preventive associations as varied responses. She draws analogies to past reform movements, emphasizes the influence of public opinion and moral education, and calls for coordinated legal, social, and economic remedies. Field investigations and case histories collected by reform organizations are used to illustrate the need for both immediate rescue and long-term structural change.