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GUTTER KIDS

Harrowing pictures of a pregnant ten-year-old prostitute and tots begging for money capture the heart-breaking poverty of Victorian street children

Youngsters suffered precarious lives, blighted by cruelty and squalor

FOUR months pregnant, a child prostitute bares her growing belly.

The plight of 10-year-old Mary Simpson embodies the horrors many Victorian street children were forced to endure.

 This child prostitute is identified as Mary Simpson who is said to be between 10 and 11 years old and four months pregnant
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This child prostitute is identified as Mary Simpson who is said to be between 10 and 11 years old and four months pregnantCredit: News Dog Media
 In a photo taken by author Lewis Carroll family friend Alice Liddell is dressed to look like a child beggar
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In a photo taken by author Lewis Carroll family friend Alice Liddell is dressed to look like a child beggarCredit: News Dog Media
 An older man poses with a beggar girl in this unsettling snap from 1877
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An older man poses with a beggar girl in this unsettling snap from 1877Credit: News Dog Media
 A street child pictured in 1851 would have been exposed to horrors that are barely imaginable today
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A street child pictured in 1851 would have been exposed to horrors that are barely imaginable todayCredit: News Dog Media
 Dressed in tattered rags this flower girl pictured in 1877 would have been forced to live by her wits
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Dressed in tattered rags this flower girl pictured in 1877 would have been forced to live by her witsCredit: News Dog Media
 There was little to smile about for the girls trapped in squalor in Victorian cities
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There was little to smile about for the girls trapped in squalor in Victorian citiesCredit: News Dog Media

These were precarious lives, blighted by cruelty and squalor.

And some of that horror is caught on camera in this collection of harrowing photos showing young girls forced to live by their wits to survive.

Smiles are notable by their absence in the snapshots from over a century ago that show the girls in tattered clothes.

A couple of frames feature older men with the helpless youngsters.

A further photo taken by Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll shows Alice Liddell - the inspiration behind Alice - dressed to appear like a child beggar.

Street children in Victorian times were found in abundance living in alleys or side streets.

 During Victorian times street kids were found in abundance living in alleys or side streets
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During Victorian times street kids were found in abundance living in alleys or side streetsCredit: News Dog Media
 At the turn of the century scenes of young girls with no shoes were still commonplace in cities across the country
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At the turn of the century scenes of young girls with no shoes were still commonplace in cities across the countryCredit: News Dog Media
 Many street kids were orphans but some were also fleeing abuse at home
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Many street kids were orphans but some were also fleeing abuse at homeCredit: News Dog Media
 The life of a rag picker's daughter in 1849 was one with few luxuries
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The life of a rag picker's daughter in 1849 was one with few luxuriesCredit: News Dog Media
 Two girls, who look like they could be sisters, were among thousands who lived on the streets in 1876
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Two girls, who look like they could be sisters, were among thousands who lived on the streets in 1876Credit: News Dog Media
 A beggar girl accompanies a much older man in a snapshot taken during a period when child prostitution was commonplace
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A beggar girl accompanies a much older man in a snapshot taken during a period when child prostitution was commonplaceCredit: News Dog Media

Many were orphans but a large part of the street children were from neglectful, alcoholic families where abuse was the norm.

The belief that children had rights that the states should protect was almost non-existent at the dawn of the nineteenth century. Faced with the choice of living in these conditions or living on the street some children chose the street.

Many of these children fell prey to prostitution and begging to support themselves.

Child prostitution flourished until the late 1800s and was an accepted fact of city life.

Minors accounted for over half of individuals involved in prostitution in Paris whilst it wasn’t uncommon for child prostitutes, some as young as eight-years-old, to work the streets of London.

Even eminent Victorians like novelist Ernest Dowson and John Ruskin wooed young girls. In a letter to his physician John Simon on 15 May 1886, Ruskin wrote: “I like my girls from ten to sixteen - allowing of 17 or 18 as long as they’re not in love with anybody but me - I’ve got some darlings of eight, 12 and 14.”

 Children often lived on the streets to escape abuse at home from families blighted by alcohol
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Children often lived on the streets to escape abuse at home from families blighted by alcoholCredit: News Dog Media
 A lone child begs surrounded by adults in a British city in 1876
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A lone child begs surrounded by adults in a British city in 1876Credit: News Dog Media
 When this photo was taken in 1846 it wasn't uncommon for children as young as eight to be prostitutes
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When this photo was taken in 1846 it wasn't uncommon for children as young as eight to be prostitutesCredit: News Dog Media
 Many slum kids had to endure filthy conditions as they fought a daily battle for survival
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Many slum kids had to endure filthy conditions as they fought a daily battle for survivalCredit: News Dog Media
 During the Victorian era the age of consent was just 13 years old
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During the Victorian era the age of consent was just 13 years oldCredit: News Dog Media
 Eminent Victorian men would unashamedly discuss their attraction to young girls
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Eminent Victorian men would unashamedly discuss their attraction to young girlsCredit: News Dog Media

However a scandal in nineteenth century England caused the government to raise the age of consent and tackle child prostitution.

The age of consent was then raised from 13 to 16.

During this period, the term white slavery came to be used throughout Europe and the United States to describe prostituted children.


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