Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 - Passage and Effects

Passage and Effects

The Criminal Law Amendment Act was finally passed on 14 August 1885 and in its final form effectively repealed Sections 49 and 52 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 and the whole of the Offences against the Person Act 1875. Its provisions were as follows:

• It raised the age of consent from 13 to 16 years of age;
• It made it a criminal offence to procure girls for prostitution by administering drugs, intimidation or fraud;
• It punished householders who would permit under-age sex on their premises;
• It made it a criminal offence to abduct a girl under 18 for purposes of carnal knowledge;
• It gave magistrates the power to issue search warrants to find missing females;
• It gave power to the court to remove a girl from her legal guardians if they condoned her seduction;
• It provided for summary proceedings to be taken against brothels; and
• It raised the age of felonious assaults to 13 and misdemeanor assault between 13 and 16 as well as imbecile women and girls.
• Extended buggery laws to include any kind of sexual activity between males.

It also had sections outlining the penalties for abduction and procuring for the purpose of prostitution for girls under the age of eighteen, as well as relaxing the rules on witness testimony: while children under the age of 12 were allowed to testify as proposed by the SPCC, it also gave the right of the accused to testify on his own behalf.

The effect of the law became noticeable almost immediately. While few cases of sexual offences were reported before the passage of the law, the number of reported cases skyrocketed in the months afterwards, especially child molestation cases. It may be that the actual number of cases remained the same, but the fact that more cases were reported and brought to the courts was at the very least a reflection of how the law changed perceptions of how women and children should be treated. While the inclusion of Section 11 criminalised male homosexuality, nevertheless it was connected with notions of male lust which many felt was the root cause for vice. It would take more than 80 years before decriminalisation would take effect.