Josephine Butler (1828-1906) was a Victorian feminist and social reformer who took to the streets to decry human trafficking and to champion a woman’s right to education and the ballot box.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today we’re talking about a Victorian feminist and social reformer.
Despite norms of the time, she took to the streets to decry human trafficking and to champion a woman’s right to education and the ballot box.
Let’s talk about Josephine Butler.
Josephine was born on April 13, 1828 in Northumberland - the north eastern region of England - to a prominent family. Her father, John Grey, was a wealthy landowner and cousin to the British Prime Minister, Earl Grey, who led between 1830 and 1834. Josephine’s father was a strong supporter of progressive social reforms, a value he passed along to his daughter. One of seven children, Josephine was educated by her father at home. He educated both his sons and daughters equally, an uncommon practice for the time.
In 1852, at the age of 24, Josephine married George Butler, an examiner of schools who shared her commitment to social reforms. In their first five years of marriage, the couple had four children.
In 1863, Josephine’s only daughter and youngest child, Eva, fell to her death. To cope with the overwhelming grief, Josephine turned to charity work.
Josephine started by finding shelter for the city’s homeless women, often taking them into her own home. Many of these women were prostitutes suffering the terminal stages of venereal diseases.
Josephine also worked with Anne Jemima Clough, a prominent suffragist, to establish academic courses for advanced study for women. In 1867, she was appointed President of the North of England Council for Higher Education of Women. She campaigned for Cambridge University to expand opportunities available to women students and her efforts resulted in one of Cambridge’s all-women colleges, Newnham College.
During this time, Josephine published multiple books about the social issues she championed. Her views on a woman’s place is society conflicted with some feminists of the time. Josephine strayed from the idea that women should be viewed in the same terms as men, and instead argued that women deserved the vote because they were different than men and had a separate responsibility within society to protect and care for the weak. To Josephine, ensuring a woman’s right to vote was a way to strengthen the morality of the nation.
In 1869, Josephine began publicly campaigning against the Contagious Diseases Acts of 1866 and 1869. These Acts were initially introduced to curtail the spread of venereal diseases in the armed forces. But in order to do so, sex workers were heavily targeted and penalized. Under these Acts, police were given the authority to arrest suspected prostitutes living in seaports and military towns and subject them to forced medical examinations.
Having worked with prostitutes at the start of her career, Josephine felt sympathy for these women. She believed they were forced into this work through low wages and minimal opportunity. For Josephine, these Acts represented a troubling double standard. Sex workers were punished but the men who sought out their services were not.
Josephine was a powerful orator who drew large crowds as she traveled the country gaining support for the Acts’ repeal. George, now a prominent figure in academia, was criticized for letting his wife discuss sex in public. Despite threats to his career, George continued to support Josephine’s advocacy.
And Josephine charged on. She teamed up with other prominent social workers to expose the insidious world of human trafficking and child prostitution in London. Her hard work paid off. In 1885 Parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act which raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen. And the following year in 1886, Parliament formally repealed the Contagious Diseases Act.
In her final years, Josephine supported the suffrage movement and published her most famous work, “Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade”. It promoted social reform, women’s education and equality.
Josephine Butler died on December 30, 1906. She was 78 years old.
Her fight for women’s equality, especially for those who often exist on the margins of society, remains highly relevant to this day.
All month we’re talking about activists.
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Talk to you tomorrow!