The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

 

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold, is an important book, as it shines a desperately needed light on the women killed by the notorious White Chapel serial killer.  Rubenhold gives these woman what they have long deserved: their humanity.  They were not merely victims of murder, but people living as best they could – and nearly all these women suffered from unfortunately circumstances.  They were people, and the author treats them as such.

Rubenhold claims that there is no evidence that three of the five women were involved in sex work.  This is a startling, as for over a hundred years these woman have been labeled as prostitutes.  In fact, Rubenhold tells us, they were called prostitutes because Victorian England had no other category for women who were essentially homeless, not married (either divorced, or estranged from their husbands) and destitute.  The five were homeless people.  Every day they scrambled money for a bed that evening. The serial killer may well have picked them some appeared sleeping in lanes, doorways, and backyards.

This is the story of the failure of a society to care for its working class women.  Most women were one step away from destitution.  There was no real safety net to keep these woman off the street and protect them.  Law were meant to protect men.  What was true in Victorian England is true today: poor women suffer higher percentages of  disease, mental health issues, substance abuse, and crime.   

One thing all five had in common was addiction to alcohol.  In a world with little pleasure, it was a cheap and fleeting away to avoid pain and anguish.  These are sad, but important stories to read.