Amongst all of the reviews that have been released about Ripper Street beginning this Saturday on BBC America, I've only seen Collider address the so-called feminist controversy, and frankly, they have been the most sensible about it, too.

Here's what Collider had to say

Speaking of whores (like in so many series that take place in the late Victorian era), they are a-plenty, and they play central roles.  There has been plenty of negative feminist commentary about Ripper Street, that the women portrayed are either pious or whores, with little in between.  I think that the lack of dimension in their livelihoods, which isn’t unusual for the time period, is undone somewhat by the hint at, perhaps, some actual personality.  Mind you, it’s nascent, and the men are absolutely far more absorbingly written than the females of the show.  Still, there is hope that one or two might actually turn into actual characters at some point.

I'm a staunch feminist, but I have not been offended by Ripper Street. It was the reality of that era and locale.  I, too, am looking forward for the female characters to be "fleshed out" further.