Protection of Girlhood, was published 1886 in issue one of Philanthropist, and was sponsored by the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (NWCT), a religiously-based organization concerned with improving the social integrity of American culture. The article is one of many petitions issued by the NWCT demanding alterations in federal legislation regarding the age of consent with regards to cases of sexual assault. When the article was written, the age of consent in Delaware was seven. In most other states, the age of consent was ten, and in a few other states, twelve, thirteen, and in some cases sixteen. The NWCT petition was drafted in the hopes that congressional legislation would raise the age of consent to eighteen in all states.

The Protection of Girlhood" was written for all young women in the United States. However, the NWCT makes a point to single out the special needs of young working class girls, who were not necessarily more vulnerable to sexual assault but who have fewer legal and legal options. Daughters from wealthy parents have more financial and legal options and therefore did not need renewed legislation as much as poor girls, according to the NWCT. Therefore, the "Protection of Girlhood" stands up for the judicial rights of the poor as much as it stands up for the rights of women.

Today, the concept of "age of consent" is almost a cliche because the universal American norm for age of consent is the age of majority, eighteen. We take the age of consent for granted, so it is almost appalling to imagine that just over a hundred years ago, little girls in Delaware could be sexually assaulted at age seven without legal protection. While "Protection of Girlhood" contains outmoded language such as "social purity," the NWCT made huge strides in obtaining rights for all females, and especially young girls. Furthermore, the NWCT took a unique stance in speaking out for the rights of working class girls in particular.

Works Cited

Protection of Girlhood," Philanthropist, 1 (October 1886), p. 2.