PROTECTIQN OF YOUNG WOMEN

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24021, 9 August 1943, Page 3

PROTECTIQN OF YOUNG WOMEN

MAGISTRATE'S VIEWS ON SOCIAL PROBLEM (P.A.) AUCKLAND, August 7. "I have come to the conclusion that the class of girl that has got to be protected is that taken away from school about the age of 14 or 15 and placed in factories or industries at a time when she lacks a sense of judgment, and tries to emulate older girls. She loses her head and no power on earth can stop her until she crashes," said Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M., yesterday, during the hearing of a case in which a girl, aged 17, unmarried, was charged with abandoning an infant less than a month old at Devonport. The Magistrate said the remedy for the problem should include a definite system of patrol by women police, with power to approach girls of tender age in circumstances in which tfiey might be seduced, and to take them into protective custody. He referred to the cruel stigma placed on unmarried mothers by society, which had played into the hands of one of the most vicious social evils, namely, the abortionist. The sanctity of marriage had to be safeguarded to the fullest extent. When a girl fell, she should be pitied and her child not branded with a bad name. He praised the work of homes where unmarried mothers were cared for and said the question of sex should be treated not in a hush-hush manner but openly, as a matter of physical wellbeing, like nutrition or diet. The past attitude had led to morbid curiosity and to the troubles existing to-day. He adjourned ■ the case for six months.