“These are cases which it is inadvisable to drag into the light of day” : Disinterring the Crime of Incest in Early Twentieth-Century England

Abstract

The historiography of late twentieth century child sex offending in England and Wales is still being uncovered and written; most recently in light of the unprecedented disclosure of cases of historic sexual abuse revealed by the Savile Inquiry and Goddard’s Independent Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry into institutional abuse. 2 While the current revelations of sexual abuse over the last half century are unparalleled, at least the unrelenting publication of media reports, commentaries and prosecutions will provide an accessible and significant archive for future academic analysis. In stark contrast, the historiography relating to child sexual exploitation including incestuous relations with children during the first half of the twentieth century is much more limited. With specific reference to the crime of incest, there has been significant academic critique of the late nineteenth century debates and social discourse associated with the arguments for and against criminalization and the subsequent enactment of the Punishment of Incest Act 1908. But for the early twentieth century, and especially post-1908, there are seismic chronological gaps in the literature in respect of child sexual abuse generally, and more specifically, the impact and wider socio-legal and cultural context of the implementation of the incest statute.