ABSTRACT
Most girls extracted or believed they had extracted an absolute promise of marriage before they consented to intercourse, but not all. The promise of marriage and its subsequent fulfillment protected the girl from the more unfortunate social consequences of pre-marital sex. Nevertheless, many girls consented to intercourse without such a promise, if these major consequences were rendered harmless or sufficiently muted. The persuasive power of a promise to marry in demolishing resistance to pre-marital intercourse is further underlined in its unscrupulous use by married men in obtaining their desire with somewhat reluctant spinsters. Fear of pregnancy and its social and economic consequences were the major factors inhibiting consent, and with little evidence of contraception in the initial and early sexual experiences of the spinster, it was an ever-present probability. Apart from violence and fear a spinster could be coerced into sex through blackmail.
