Protection From Defilement Act (1849). An Act To Protect Women From Fraudulent Practices For Procuring Their Defilement. Women's Rights. Great Britain. Parliament. Great Britain Women's Rights

Folio (11.25 inches). 12 & 13 Victoria, Chapter 76. Caption title, pages 669-670 (single leaf). Engraved Royal coat of arms. Neatly extracted from a bound volume. By the mid-nineteenth century, there were a significant number of sexual crimes being committed against women in the upper class by men who made it their sport to seduce unsuspecting females. In order to discourage and eliminate the predatory behaviour, this legislation was enacted to protect females and punish men that were guilty of the crime. The Act proclaimed that: For the better preventing the heinous offence of procuring the defiling of Women, which certain infamous Persons do most wickedly practise That if any Person shall, by false Pretences, false Representations, or other fraudulent Means, procure any Woman or Child under the Age of Twenty-one Years to have illicit carnal Connexion with any Man, such Person shall be guilty of a Misdemeanor, and shall, being duly convicted thereof, suffer Imprisonment for a Term not exceeding Two Years, with hard Labour. Defilement referred to the act of sexual intercourse with a woman or girl who had been a virgin prior to the act.