CONTAGEOUS DISEASES ACTS AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR THEIR REPEAL 1862-86 Flashcards
(117 cards)
1
Q
When were the contagious diseases acts passed?
A
1864, 1866, 1869
2
Q
Why were the contagious diseases acts passed?
A
- regulate prostitution
- prevent spread of venereal disease
3
Q
How did campaigns for the repeal of the acts change attitudes to women and politics?
A
- CDAs made it clear that without political representation women could expect little justice from a government ruled by men
- campaigns popularised women’s rights movements
4
Q
What was male sexual desire viewed as?
A
Natural, animalistic and unrepressable
5
Q
What was female sexual desire viewed as?
A
Non-existent apart from desire linked to procreation.
6
Q
Why was prostitution QUIETLY regarded as respectable? Especially for the military?
A
- quelled the animalistic male sexual desires
- fulfilled military men’s sexual desires as they were forbidden to marry
- prevented homosexuality between soldiers
7
Q
What was the main issue with prostitution?
A
- spread venereal diseases rapidly
- caused huge numbers of the British military to be out of action!
- public health in cities degraded
8
Q
Main diseases spread by prostitution?
A
- gonorrhoea
- syphilis
9
Q
Gonorrhoea
A
STD causes inflammation and discharge from vagina and urethra.
Seen as relatively harmless at the time.
10
Q
Syphilis
A
Bacterial STD, can also be passed from mother to foetus (hereditary syphilis).
- sores develop into rash on hands and feet, growths eventually on skin bones and liver
11
Q
Who were the key nurses in the Crimean War?
A
Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale
12
Q
Crimean War dates?
A
1853-56
13
Q
Why did the Crimean War relate to the passing of the CDAs
A
- brought health of the British army to the forefront of national concern:
The army suffered more from soldiers being out of action from STDs than injuries
Therefore it highlighted the military’s dependence on Prostitution
14
Q
Why was the army dependant on prostitution?
A
- men weren’t allowed to marry in the army (they wouldn’t want to risk their lives if they had families)
- it fufilled soldiers’ biological sexual urges
- “prevented homosexuality between soldiers”
15
Q
Why was the1857 Royal Commission on the Health of the Army established?
A
To investigate if venereal disease was more common in military men than regular men (following the light shed on it by the military incompetence shown in the Crimean war)
16
Q
1857 Royal Commission on the ______ __ ___ ____
A
1857 Royal Commission on the Health of the Army
17
Q
What did the 1857 Royal Commission on the Health of the Army recommend?
A
- medical checks on soldiers should be ended on soldiers as they created loss of respect among troops
- statistical department will report on the health of the army
- NO recommendation to solve such high levels of infection
18
Q
How many out of every 1000 soldiers were in hospital because of sexually related illness on 1860?
A
105/1000 soldiers
19
Q
Percentage of army hospital admissions for venereal infection in 1860
A
37%
20
Q
What committee was appointed as a result of the investigation from the 1857 Royal Committee on the health of the Army?
A
1862 committee
21
Q
What was the 1862 committee set up to do?
A
Investigate how to stop STDs from spreading in the military
22
Q
Who was the central advocate on the 1862 committee?
A
Florence Nightingale
23
Q
What did Florence Nightingale do for the 1862 Committee?
A
- selected members
- selected main questions to be investigated
24
Q
What did Nightingale want as a result of the 1862 Committee?
A
- for the issue of venereal disease within the army to publicised
- for the army to be recommended that they purify themselves morally and end their reliance on prostitution
25
What did Florence nightingale NOT want as a result of the 1862 Committee
- regulation of prostitutes
26
Where did the idea of regulating prostitutes come from?
France, where they had regulated prostitution with medical examinations since 1802
John Liddell suggested this at the 1862 committee
27
What did Nightingale think of medical checks on prostitutes?
That it was a disgusting infringement on their rights.
28
What was the official recommendation of the 1862 Committee?
- Nightingale’s suggestion of persuading soldiers to regulate their OWN health by issuing penalties for concealing (lying about) contracting venereal disease
- AND the establishment of (free, voluntary) LOCK HOSPITALS where prostitutes could go to get treated
The committee was IGNORED - William Gladstone objected
29
Why was prostitution a social dilemma?
- threatened marriages and family
- spread disease
30
How many prostitutes in England?
Police estimate = 30,000
Real figure = (possibly) 500,000
31
Example of a sexist law
Matrimonial Causes Act
32
What did the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 specify?
- a man could divorce a woman on grounds of adultery
- a woman could HOWEVER they had to present additional reasons for wanting divorce
This was because adultery by a man was seen as fulfilling a natural urge
Shows sexual immorality is pardonable for a man but abhorrent for a woman
33
Why did Gladstone object to the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857?
Very religious man.
- The act made divorces a matter dealt with by civil courts and not the churches
- made adultery no longer a criminal offence
- unfair
- believed it harmed the church
34
Who published a book on prostitution in 1857?
John Acton
35
What did John Acton’s book (1857) debate?
- outlined the problems prostitution created
- whilst still believing it was a social necessity
- looked at it from a ‘social, moral and sanitary’ standpoint
36
What did Acton declare in 1860
Charity and religion had failed to prevent prostitution and that scientific government regulation was necessary.
Through regular medical checks of PROSTITUTES, STDs could be identified and “treated” and eventually eradicated.
37
When was the 1st CDA passed?
1864
38
What did the first CDA of 1864 do?
- gave police in ports and garrison towns power to arrest “prostitutes” for medical examinations
- found to be carrying venereal disease = detained in lock hospital until “cured”
- failure to agree examination = prison
39
When was the 2nd CDA passed?
1866
40
What did the 2nd CDA of 1866 introduce?
- compulsory examination of “prostitutes” every 3 months
- examinations for all prostitutes in 10 mile radius of protected ports/garrisons
41
When was the 3rd CDA passed?
1869
42
What did the 3rd CDA do?
- extended regulation to ALL garrison towns, established 18 protected districts
- allowed holding prostitutes for 5 days before examination
- ALSO legal to detain in lock hospitals for a YEAR
- WITHOUT TRIAL
43
How did medical authorities like Acton and Elizabeth Anderson defend the CDAs
Believed the reduction of STDs was a moral duty of the state
Hoping it would improve public health
44
Who was Elizabeth Garret Anderson?
FIRST female doctor in Britain registered by the GMC register, joined the BMA in 1873. The ONLY female member of the BMA for 19 years!!
45
Who was ACTON
Highly reputable and admired London surgeon, specialising in urinary and genital tract
=> knew a lot about venereal disease
46
What did women fear the CDA did regarding the reputation of women accused of prostitution?
Feared it endangered the dignity of women.
47
What did the CDA essentially do?
Put the blame and burden on women for spreading venereal disease.
Provided a lesson:
A parliament made up of entirely MEN would create laws beneficial to men only AND degrade women
48
What was put in place to investigate the impacts of the acts?
The 1871 Royal Commission
49
What positives impacts of the CDAs did the 1871 Royal Commission find?
- encouraged women to travel to lock hospitals to get voluntary, free treatment
- ‘clearance’ certificates given to uninfected prostitutes allowed them to get increased payments
- improved life and career expectancy for prostitutes
- reduced occurrence of scabies/“the itch” popular
- names removed from prostitute registers if married or fully employed
- reduced hospital admissions in protected areas
50
Why could the 1871 Royal Commission into the impacts of the CDAs be seen as unreliable?
Only interviewed ministers, doctors and military officers.
Prostitutes seen as too ‘unrespectable’ to be interviewed
51
Negative impacts ignored by the 1871 Royal Commission
- Society for the Rescue of Women and Children refused to care for prostitutes as it was against the acts
- police unenthusiastic about implementing regulation, seen as unnecessary
- made it difficult for some prostitutes to move on and start new profession/life
52
When did the medical profession move to extend regulation throughout Britain?
1869
53
Was there initial opposition to the CDAs?
No
54
When did opposition to the acts gain momentum?
1969 - when medical professionals started suggesting extending the regulation to the general British civilian population.
55
What did the Harveian Society report in 1867?
That further state intervention was needed to reduce high levels of venereal infection
56
Following the Harveian Society’s 1867 report what association was formed to campaign for the 1866 acts’ extension?
Association for promoting the extension if the contagious diseases act of 1866
57
When did opposition to the acts grow?
1868 - 1869
58
Who were the main activists initially angered by the suggestion to extend the CDAs?
- Harriet Martineau
- Elizabeth Wolstenholme
Due to the efforts of authorities trying to interfere with the personal liberties of women.
59
Why were the medical examinations on prostitutes controversial?
- speculum used to examine female genitalia = cross contamination and unsafe|instrumental rape|plus concerns over virginity/modesty
- brutalised women and degraded them
- embarrassing (Devonport room with huge windows)
60
When were the acts finally abolished?
1886 (suspended in 1882)
61
Who did Wolstenholme ask to lead the campaign against the acts in 1869?
Josephine Butler
62
When was the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contageous Diseases Acts formed?
(LNA)
31st December 1869
63
How many women started the LNA?
120
64
What did LNA stand for?
Ladies National Association
65
How many women initially signed the protest of the LNA? How many did this grow to?
120 ———> 2000
66
What were the main groups that signed the protest?
Quakers and Unitarians
67
5 notable women who signed the LNA protest?
- Josephine Butler
- Elizabeth Wolstenholme
- Martineau
- Nightingale
- Lydia Becker
68
8 allegations made by the LNAs protest against the CDAs
- passed in secret
- offence of prostitution was unclearly defined
- unfairly punished only one sex for prostitution
- the act was ccruel and degrading and medical examinations brutalised women
- undermined formal legal protection
- the acts would increase disease rather than prevent
- the problem of venereal disease was MORAL not PHYSICAL
- made path of evil easier for men
69
Was the LNA a national movement?
Yes, branches began being formed all across the UK
70
Why did Wolstenholme fecice not to lead the LNA?
The leader had to be of the upmost morality, Wolstenholme was:
- radical
- hostile to traditional respectability and marriage
- only agreed to marry once she fell pregnant with her partner to avoid damaging the LNAs cause
71
Why did Wolstenholme choose Butler to lead the LNA?
Butler was:
- respectable/ had impeccable morality
- was a wife and mother
- charismatic and strong willed
- fashionable and beautiful (therefore influential)
72
Why did the LNA need a leader like Butler?
Women speaking out against the government at the time was radical, plus the topic being rights of prostitutes incredibly taboo and risky.
Therefore they needed a leader who had impeccable morality, who avoided scandalous behaviour to avoid discrediting the movement, and avoid questions of impropriety.
73
How was Butlers leadership driven?
- religiously, she was a devout evangelical Christian
- maternally, she wanted to help ‘fallen women’ and bring them salvation
74
Why was Butler reluctant to lead the campaign at first?
- wanted consent of her husband before agreeing
- was an incredibly risky and radical movement
75
Which religious figure did Butler identify with?
St Catherine of Siena, a pioneering female activist.
76
Negative impacts of Butler on the CDA
- condemned affects of the acts in Portsmouth and Devonport, but had no first hand knowledge of conditions there
- she had not visited protected districts since 1973
This made a certain disconnect between the leadership and those affected by the cause, which discredited some of her allegations and speeches.
77
FB Smith of Butler inadvertently preventing reforms for welfare of prostitutes
1871 Royal Commission - John Mill suggests a system if voluntary examinations (rather than forcible) in private clinics.
Butler BLOCKS this because she wanted to ban the acts completely, this would still place blame on women and legitimise men’s unmoral behaviour
78
What were Butlers views on the speculum?
- degrading instrument
- since exams performed by men on women (often forcibly) it was a sexual attack (instrumental rape)
79
James Stansfled
- Imperative from organising the movement (along with Wilson)
- worked in Gladstone’s cabinet until liberals were defeated in 1874
- leading radical MP
- took dominant role in repeal of the CDA movement after 1874
80
Why was James Stansfled imperative to the movement?
- reshaped the movement into an effective political pressure group
- came up with new strategies to cultivate popular support
- transformed the ‘moral movement’ into a politically driven pragmatic one
81
What were some of Stansfled’s new policies?
- develop factual, science-based arguments
- encouraged formation of National Medical Association 1875 (this enlisted medics who campaigned against the acts
82
What did the formation of the National Medical Association (1975) lead to?
The pressure lead the conservative government to form a committee of enquiry into the acts which gathered information (1879-1882)
Stansfled was appointed the the enquiry in 1880 when the liberals returned to power
83
Was Stansfled’s role contentious or not?
- Yes, with middle class women
- he was threatening like many other men in the LNA
- alliances with middle class men were easier to manage
84
What were Stansfled and Wilson’s role within the LNAs success?
Wilson = got the Liberal party to support the movement
Stansfled = pushed through the final repeal in 1886
85
Why did Wilson and Stansfled have more influence than Butler or Wolstenholme
They were middle-class men, eligible to become MPs
=> they had political influence (radical political influence as liberal MPs) to assert in parliament
86
What were some tactics of the LNA?
- petitions with hundreds and thousands of legitimate signatures (early)
- single out candidates and undermine their election campaigns UNLESS they supported the acts (interfering in elections) as they could not exert their own political power
- drawing attention to wrongly accused prostitutes
87
Examples of interfering in elections:
- 1870 Henry Storks for Newark
- 1872 HCE Childers for Pontefract
88
The candidacy of Henry Storks for Newark (1870)
- Governor of Malta, enforced the CDA across Malta
- campaigners put so much pressure on Storks that he withdrew candidacy on day of election
89
HCE Childers for Pontefract
1872
- HCE Childers campaign for reelection in Pontefract
- First Lord of the Admiralty => support CDAs
- demonstrations against him by the LNA stirred violence towards the LNA
- returned to parliament with greatly reduced majority
90
What was made clear by Conservative win of 1874 general election
The LNA could not exert influence over conservative MPs
After the win, the LNA lost liberal MPs sympathetic to their cause.
91
Example of drawing attention to women mistaken for prostitutes
Mrs Percy
Elizabeth Holt
Carding Whybrow of Chatham (claimed to be mistaken - evidence says otherwise
92
Mrs Percy
Mistaken in Aldershot in 1875
Drowned herself while police were investigating her.
‘Every good cause deserves martyrs’
Fuelled public fear the CDA risked the dignity of innocent women
93
Convincing prostitutes to resist acts requirements in early 1870s
- Plymouth and Southampton, ‘Siege if Devonport’
- campaigners manage to convince a resistance from prostitutes - resist medical exams
- campaigners provided financial support if prostitutes brought to trial
- public meetings, pamphleteering
94
Failure of convincing prostitutes to resist medical exams in the south:
Campaign became expensive because of financially supporting the prostitutes trials.
By 1872 they were compliant with laws once again
95
Why did campaign against the CDAs have immediate impact?
‘the revolt of women is quite a new thing‘
Government had no clue what to do/how to react.
96
Evidence the anti-CDA campaign was taken seriously from the start:
1871 Royal Commission into the effects of the legislation (two years after initial opposition arose - one year after LNA’s formation) establishes by parliament.
Taking their demands seriously
97
When were the CDAS repealed? When were they Suspended?
1886, 1883
98
Why were the LNA protesters ultimately successful?
- many diverse and unheard of forms of protest very hard for politicians to deal with (especially influencing elections and raising fears over wrongful identification tactics) and convincing the government that the acts were immoral.
99
Why can’t Butler take complete credit for the repeal of the CDA as head of the LNA
- Stansfled pushing through the final repeal - demanded Gladstone repeal the acts (in exchange for support for Irish Home Rule)
- Wilson getting liberal party support ++ REGIONAL SUPPORT
- Gladstone finally repealing the act
- medical association less enthusiastic about continuing the acts
100
Why was the medical profession less enthusiastic about continuing the acts?
- regulation seen as no longer viable - prevention was the way forward - promote chastity and precaution
- this was because of discoveries that the diseases could cause long term health issue
- and that there was doubts in treatments to cure the diseases
101
Why were the protests against the CDAs revolutionary in women’s’ politics
- they radicalised women, set a precedent for evolvement of women in politics and women’s political thinking
- inspired women to speak out on a large scale
- LNA provided a model for future women could arrange themselves in the future
102
What was the Social Purity Alliance and when was it founded?
Founded in 1873 by Butler, promoted the view that feminine morality would redeem a system corrupted by male vice:
1885 campaign raised age of consent to 16
103
Why was age of consent raised to 16 in 1885?
After campaign of Butler’s Social Purity Movement.
White slave trade was discovered, underage girls abducted and sold into prostitution - this confirmed the fears that male sexuality was a moral threat endemic to society.
104
AGENTS of MORAL REGENERATION
Women needed to act as agents of moral regeneration as male vice caused female misery, and of women were to enter politics they were to raise the moral standards of society.
The implementation of the CDA demonstrated that a government without female virtue would be an immoral system and would actively harm women.
105
What was the controversy surrounding the passing of the CDAs?
The bill was passed with no debate, no discussion, no dissent. The public knew nothing about it.
106
Why didn’t the public know anything about the passing of the CDAs?
A bill passed which focused on preventing disease in cattle named ‘the Contagious Diseases bill’ - same name as CDA - covered up by the cows!
107
Why did the bill pass easily?
It was not contentious, attitudes at the time saw problem of venereal disease related directly to prostitutes, so regulation of these ‘women of the night’ seemed reasonable to protect those who protect the country.
108
How many women signed the 1871 petition calling for the abolition of the CDAs?
330,000 - ‘being too large for any table’ - The Shield (Butler)
109
When was the petition calling for the abolition of the CDAs presented to the House of Commons
April 6th 1871
110
What was The Shield?
The newspaper of the National Association for the Repeal of The Acts (formed by Butler)
111
What does J.Butler call the speculum.
“Steel penis”
112
What does S.Bartley think about Henry Wilsons contributions to the repeal campaign?
That he “deserves as much credit as Butler”
113
Where did the anti-CDA associations get their funding from?
Donations - especially from wealthy Quakers (couldn’t have survived without donations!!)
114
Which political parties originally supported the CDA repeal Campaign?
None - not conservative nor liberal!
115
Why didn’t the tories or liberals decide to debate the repeal acts?
Wasn’t worth their time - more urgent matters such as sufferable, religion, imperialism, urbanisation and education.
116
S.Bartley quote of Stansfled’s contributions:
“Turning point”
117
What was Stansfeld’s connection to Butler?
Personal advisor - could mediate between her and Gladstone due to his political influence.
