Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-17
HARTFORD DOCTOR BEFORE
 NORWICH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Dr. Edward B. Hooker Read Paper
 Upon the Abatement of Prostitution

upon the Abatement Of Prostitution on Monday evening at the Wauregan house, the Norwich Medical associa- ton, with the president, H. M. Pol lock, in the chair, had a well attended meeting and the paper of the evening was by Dr. Edward Beecl0er Hooker the Hartford vice commission in 1912, and in his paper, which he read be- fore the doctors of Norwich, upon The Abatement of Prostitution, he spoke from information that had the backing of facts and figures learned through that and his own experiences as a practicing physician of many years.
 After declaring that the somewhat prevalent idea that it is almost useless to combat the social evil is falacy held by those who have not studied the problem thoroughly, Dr. Hooker went on to consider many phases of the subject and to suggest remedial measures
 He said in part:
 The Man, the Woman and the oppor
 tunity
 Three factors enter into prosti tuition and into every form of the social eviI-the man, the woman and
 
 woman factor. Why do women be- come prostitutes? The main reason the overwhelming reason, is that men demand sexual qualification, and SC strong. so imperative is this demand that women supply it. I do not as- sert that women are without passion but that men are so much more pas sionate thta they are the pursuers of women in the great majority of cases Without doubt there are some women with a1bnormally strong sexual desires who tempt and lead men astray. Such women are exceedingly dangerous, and in any class of society and in any con- Imunity are likely to do much evil, but they are the exception and it cannot be denied that mans desire is the main reason for woman's downfall I do not mean that women already prostitutes do not entice men, but that the first step downwards Is taken, in most cases, because some man induces the girl to take 1t. This element of the woman factor is therefore really a man factor and will be considered more at length later.
 Many Mental Detectives
 Another reason why women become prostitutes is because a large per cent of such women are mentally defective They have the physical development of IS or 20 with the desires and pas sions Of women of that age, but with the mental development of children of or 10 or 12, and with the com prehension of their surroundings, o1 the meaning of life. of it's responsi- bilitfes and dangers, which normal girls of those ages possess. No won- der they succurnb to the temptations which pursuing man alluringly offers them.
 Effect of Environment
 The belief is widespread that work ing girls become prostitutes because of the low wages they receive and that a higher wags, say s9 or s10 peI week instead of S6 or $S, would pre- vent their entering the ranks of pros titution. Careful investigations dc not bear out this view. It is undoubt- edly true, however, that the environ ment, the home life, the social status in effect, have much to do with de- termining their course of life. A com mon-place home, lack of pleasant so- ciety and amusement. are likely tc drive a girl to seek companions ap6 pleasures outside the home, and i, both companions and pleasures are o1 a sort to make her think lightly oi virtue she may be led astray, wheT she would have prhapS been safe fl the right sort of home.
 A second factor in prostitution is the opportunity. However great the de- sire of both parties to the transaction if the opportunity for sexual commerce is not obtainable the commerce is pre- vented. Here the police powers oi the state and community can be em-