Convict women in Australia were the female segment of British prisoners transported during the 18th and 19th centuries to carry out their sentences in what is now Australia.
Transportation to the penal settlement in Australia was an alternative for other harsh punishments such as death by hanging. The poverty stricken female convicts were viewed as prostitutes when compared with the upper class women in Britain. Although many women were driven to prostitution during the hard convict life in Australia, none were transported for the transgression from Britain because it was never a transportable offence. During the long voyage from Britain to Australia and upon arrival, many women took advantage of their sex as a way of improving their situation. Those convicts who were not given assigned work were sent to factories to carry out their sentences.
Read more about Convict Women In Australia: Background, Convict Population of New South Wales During The Period, Voyage, Female Factories, Family and Marriage, List of Notable Convict Women, Popular Media
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