The media exposes a scandal – a network of rich, powerful men are abusing teenage girls. Outrage spreads fast and the public demands that authorities reveal the evidence and bring the perpetrators to justice. Yet the system shields many of those involved, and few face serious consequences. This isn’t about Jeffrey Epstein – it’s a scandal that unfolded in Victorian London.

Our research focuses on the women and girls at the centre of those events. In July 1885, a series of newspaper articles ran in the Pall Mall Gazette with the headline The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. They exposed systematic abuse and trafficking of young girls. From the day the articles were published, there was uproar. Parliament was inundated with petitions and there was a huge demonstration in Hyde Park.

MPs were forced to respond, passing legislation which raised the age at which girls could consent to sexual intercourse from 13 to 16. Records of those events are held in the Women’s Library at London School of Economics, and some are displayed in its current exhibition, The Women’s Library at 100.

Read more: Victims have told us the worst of Epstein’s crimes for decades – and they are still being ignored

The Maiden Tribute was the final step in years of campaigning for a higher age of consent. Before then, legislation which aimed to raise it had languished in parliament. According to rumours among campaigners and politicians, this was because some MPs were guilty themselves of abusing young girls. Indeed, opponents openly argued that such legislation would expose their own sons to the........

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