Editing Wolfenden report (section)

==Background==
Under the [[Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885]], any [[homosexual]] activity between males was illegal. After the [[Second World War]], there had been an increase in arrests and prosecutions, and by the end of 1954, in [[England and Wales]], there were 1,069 men in prison for homosexual acts, with a mean age of 37 years.{{sfn|Higgins|1996|p=56}} During a time of several significant trials, notably that of [[Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu|Lord Montagu of Beaulieu]], the Conservative government set up a departmental committee (in the [[Home Office]] and [[Scottish Home Department]] responsible for criminal law) under [[John Wolfenden, Baron Wolfenden|Sir John Wolfenden]] to consider both homosexual offences and prostitution.