A prominent issue at the turn of the twentieth century was "white slavery".  This was the idea that a very large number of women – hundreds a day – were forced into prostitution by being abducted and raped, or threatened until they consented to sex.  Then, having been defiled and deprived of any hope of redemption, they descended into degraded lives and certain gruesome death.   Many deeply believed this was a major social problem, and many prominent people campaigned for reform.  Now considered more myth than fact, the idea of white slavery was given power in its time by a number of contemporary concerns, including anti-immigrant sentiment, and argument over the legal status and moral qualities of women.