SIR,—A. E. G. Wright's suggestion that the 'Street Offences Act
has been a technical success in making the West End a far less sordid place than it used to he' fairly took my breath away. Certainly a man is less likely to be publicly accosted by a prostitute now than he was a few months ago. However, I should have thought that this was preferable to the shock of the unexpected head peeping round the scruffy door. The air of sickening surface respectability which this Act has given the business of prostitution seems to me far worse than the original idea of a woman standing in the street. If we are deceiving ourselves into thinking that the clubs, striptease or otherwise, are not a great deal worse than the con- ditions which existed before this Bill was made operable then as well as being hypocrites we are being fools. The respectability is illusory and probably short-lived as well. The dirt has to go somewhere if you persist in sweeping it under the carpet, and in this case I think the cure may well prove worse than the disease, possibly with some rather unpleasant results.—Yours faithfully, DINAH TAIT
49 Oakley Street, Chelsea, SW3
Previous page
