42
REPORT ON THE
Number of
registered
prostitutes.
Number of
defaulters at the
periodical
examination.
Statistics.
Small proportion
of defaulters
reported.
CALCUTTA LOCK-HOSPITALS.
THROUGH the courtesy of Dr. Payne, Superintendent of Lock-hospitals, I am enabled
to give a summary of his interesting report on the working of the Contagious Diseases' Act
(XIV of 1868) in the town and suburbs of Calcutta during the year 1876.
2. At the end of December 1875, 7,925 women were borne on the register, but in
January 1876 this number had fallen to 7,490. An increase took place in the succeeding
months, so that the year closed with a total of 8,241, or with 316 in excess of that just shown
as remaining at the end of 1875. The increase of registered prostitutes during the past year
has been steady and progressive, but, as remarked in my last report, was not accompanied
by a corresponding addition to the number of those who attended the periodical medical
examinations, and it would therefore appear that the benefit derivable from the detection of
d i s e a s e i n i t s e a r l i e s t s t a g e s h a d n o t b e e n t h o r o u g h l y r e a l i z e d .
3. The number of those women who failed to attend the periodical examinations was
smallest in January, but increased steadily during the following months, with the exception
of June, when there was a slight decrease in the number of defaulters. During the month
of January there were 9·3 per cent. of defaulters, and this number gradually increased up to
18·4 per cent. in December. Regarding this very marked increase in the number of those
absenting themselves from the periodical examinations, Dr. Payne does not offer any explana
- t i o n , b u t m e r e l y r e m a r k s a s f o l l o w s : — " T h e p r e c i s e r e a s o n s f o r t h e f a i l u r e w i l l d o u b t l e s s b e
ascertained in your office" (the office alluded to being that of the Commissioner of Police).
4. The following table shows the average number of registered prostitutes throughout
the year, as well as some other statistics which may prove of interest when taken in con
-nection with the periodical examinations:—
YEAR.
Average
strength of
registered
women.
Average
number
examined
monthly.
Monthly
average
number of
defaulters.
Monthly
average
number of
examinations
made.
Average daily
number of
examinations.
Average
number of
defaulters
reported each
month.
1876.
7,939
6,747·4
1,191·6
13,335·8
533·9
550·3
Per cent of average strength... ...
......
8 5 · 0
15·0
168·0
6·7
6·9
5. It will be gathered from the foregoing figures that there were 15·0 per cent. of
defaulters, of whom but 6·9 per cent., or less than half, were reported. This fact may in a
measure perhaps account for the increasing number of women who absented themselves from
the periodical medical examinations, and is deserving of attention. It would appear
necessary that obedience to the provisions of the Act under this particular heading shoul
d b e m o r e s t r i c t l y e n f o r c e d .
Proportion of
registered to
unregistered
prostitutes.
Prroportion of
disease amongst
the several classes
of prostitutes.
6. As to the oft-mooted question of the probable proportion of registered to unregis
-tered prostitutes in Calcutta, I quote verbatim from Dr. Payne's report:—"The census com
-pleted in August last affords some aid to judgment on this much-disputed point. To the
enumerators, 8,500 women acknowledged themselves to be prostitutes, a number which
exceeds by 259 that of the registers. Even after the recent accession, Mr. Beverley notices
that the women connected the proceedings of his office with the operation of the Contagious
Diseases' Act, and considers his lists inadequate on this account to a degree which could not
be determined. He mentions some indirect testimony to the same fact borne by the recorded
conjugal condition of the female population, whereof 58,977 only are wives, 29,380 are
unmarried, and 55,483 are widows. Nothing further can be needed, I think, to establish the
position of those who have contended from the first that a very large number, probably a
majority, of the Calcutta prostitutes, have been left untouched by the law. The probability
is strengthened by the fact that, including children, no less than 223,539 males are living
without wives in the town, whence Mr. Beverley concludes that, as the resident widows are
almost as numerous as the wives, there are possibly special influences at work attracting
widows to the town from the outside population."
7. It was shown last year, in a table prepared in a form similar with the annexed one,
that there was but a nominal proportion of
disease amongst the women under regular observa
-tion (including under this head those who
attended the periodical examinations or were
examined at home), while a large amount pre
-vailed amongst the other classes. The same
results were observed in 1876, as it appears that
there were only 1·76 and ·7 per cent of those
under regular observation diseased. but, among
the defaulters, those primarily examined, and
the unregistered, the proportion found diseased varied from 7·16 of the former to 100 per
1876.
Class.
Examin-
ations
Venereal
cases.
Ratio per
cent. dis-
eased.
Primary
...
913
266
2 9 · 1 3
Periodic ...
153,329
2,706
1·76
Home ...
1,278
9
·70
Defaulters ...
4,491
322
7·16
Unregistered ...
19
19
100·0