Between August and November 1888, the Whitechapel area in the East End of London became the scene of five or even six heinous and brutal murders. The identity of the killer of these poor victims has remained a mystery. This mysterious killer was given the name “Jack the Ripper”. Jack wasn’t the first serial killer in the world, but he had no doubt managed to captivate the entire London. All women murdered by Jack the Ripper were prositutes lived and worked in the slums in the East Eng of London. All victims except for one were brutally mutilated. At least three of the victims’ internal organs were even removed from their bodies. People proposed from this action that the Ripper might prossesed anatomical or surgical knowledge. Jack the Ripper was never caught and the whole London was terrorized. The crimes were widely reported in the newspapers and the notoriety of the Ripper endures.
In the 1880s, Britain exprienced an influx of immigrants and some cities including the East End of London’s population swelled. The Whitechapel area in London’s East End was overcrowed with immigrants who did not have a job and housing. The area was full of people at or below the poverty line. Working and housing conditions were awful at that time. Many of the residents could not find a job and for those who were lucky to get a job, they were forced to work 15 hours a day. There was not much option for women without a spouse or family. They had to fight very hard in any means for themselves. For some, prostition was one of the ways they could continue their lives. Even some women with a family had to engage in casual prostitution to supplement their families’ incomes. As a result of proverty and hopeless lives people in the East End of London lived, robbery, violence and drug and alcohol addiction was commonly found within the area. It is said the Ripper’s murders were the products of the proverty-stricken society.