Sentence:  Gladstone's initial tone of disinterested philanthropy also characterized his first encounters with prostitutes in London once he has moved there to undertake his parliamentary duties. <WSD>Accosted</WSD> in a London park in 1837 by two women, Gladstone merely reported of them that "both ...<!--sic--> had taken to their miserable calling from losing their livelihood by the death of their husbands." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To solicit sexually.