ABSTRACT
Victorians had a clear concept of inappropriate sexual attention that constituted abuse of power and which, on various occasions, was brought to public attention as an issue. The ‘discovery’ of sexual abuse in England from the 1860s onwards was the product of a coalition of interests between the social purity societies and the burgeoning child welfare movement. The construction of childhood in terms of sexual innocence was dependent on the association of adulthood with knowledge and experience. Material and economic conditions are also important considerations in histories of sexual violence. The inconsistency between the abhorrence of sexual abuse and the apparent ease with which defendants were discharged or acquitted needs to be reconciled. The very nature of sexual violence makes the gathering of source material extremely difficult. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
