Contagious Diseases Act

Question 1

How did the Act come about?

Answer 1

Around 1860, there was a significant concern around venereal diseases. This was especially the case in relation to army bases. The spread of venereal disease among soldiers was a real worry.

Question 2

What were the solutions?

Answer 2

Liberal solution:

• Improved hospital care for diseased men and women.
• Penalties for men who hid evidence of being diseased.
• Better barrack sanitation.
• More leisure activities to entertain military men and prevent them seeking prostitutes.

Conservative solution:

• Greater regulation of prostitutes, us9ing the military model from British colonies like Hong Kong and India, where prostitutes near military bases were registered.
• Compulsory medical examination of prostitutes by British army doctors.

Question 3

How quick was the passing of the Contagious Diseases Act?

Answer 3

Due to the nature of the laws and Victorian taboos regarding sexuality, as well as concerns over the response that there would be from the public, the debates of the committee were kept quiet. The committee overall sided with Sir John Lidell’s viewpoint, and recommended legislation to regulate prostitutes and enforce medical examinations. The legislation known as the Contagious Diseaes Act was passed quickly and with little coverage in the press.

Question 4

What was the Contagious Diseases Act of 1864?

Answer 4

In 1864, Parliament passed the Contagious Diseases Act. This law allowed police officers to arrest any women suspected of being a prostitute in a few selected naval ports and army towns. The women would be subjected to compulsory medical checks to see if they had a disease. If the women were infected, they would be confined in a lock hospital for up to three months to be treated and to prevent them spreading the disease. It covered 11 military stations - garrison and seaport towns - including the land around them for five miles.

Question 5

What were the Conragious Diseases Acts of 1866 and 1869?

Answer 5

The Contagious Disease Act was extended in 1866: this law was the same as in 1864, except that it made a periodical medical examination of all prostitutes in the 11 areas compulsory.

Question 6

How did the acts affect prostitutes?

Answer 6

The laws primarily affected working-class women. The aim was to identify prostitutes. However, the problem was that the authorities misunderstood the socio-economic issues of urban-working class women. Although some women were prostitutes by profession, for the majority it was simply an occasional means of making money. This made identifying prostitutes difficult.

Question 7

How did the acts affect ordinary women?

Answer 7

Because prostitution was so widespread, the police assigned to stop prostitites were forced to assume that women living in poorer areas were prostitutes. Therefore, women in these areas of town would be stopped on suspicion of prostitution simply on the basis of where they lived. One anecdotal example was Mrs Percy a professional singer who was falsely accused of prostitution. The damage to her reputation meant that she was black-listed at music halls and committed suicide in 1875.

Question 8

What happened to women under the CDA?

Answer 8

Women who identified as prostitutes were listed on a register and required to take a fotnightly examination for venereal disease. If they refused, they would be taken before a magistrate and charged. Refusing to be examined could result in a fine or a prison sentence.

Those that were found to be clean would be given a card to say that they were free of disease.

Question 9

Why did people oppose the CDA?

Answer 9

• The law only focused on the women. It lacked powers to investigate or test men that visited prostitutes and were spreading the disease.
• It didn’t work.
• There were concerns that the army and navy were being used to impose order on civilians.
• The laws made the problem worse.
• The rules to identify and test women were vague, and women who were working class but not prostitutes could be stopped on suspicion and forced to submit to tests by male doctors.
• It broke the age-old law of habeas corpus.
• The law was anti-democratic.
• Some saw the acts as legalising prostitution.
• Some were concerned that legitimising prostitution would lead to increased brutality and desire for younger girls from men de-senitised to prostitution.
• Religious groups such as the Wesleyans and Quakers were concerned that the law set a dangerous precedent by targeting women.

Question 10

Did everyone oppose it?

Answer 10

There was a large amount of support for the Contagious Diseases Acts.

The support for the laws was small but strong and influential. Between 1870 and 1881, the abolition movement presented 10,315 petitions against the CDA with 2,015.404 signatures whereas the groups wanting to keep the laws only presented 45 petitions with 3.579 signatures. Twenty-eight of these areas covered by the laws, showing that even in affected areas there was some support. These supporters were effective at dragging out the debate for 16 years.

Question 11

What did the National Association for the Repeal of the CDA do?

Answer 11

• Formed in 1869.
• Included businessmen, lawyers, clergymen and several MPs.
• Middle-class, mainly male movement.
• Proposed by members who were Wesleyans and Quakers. Initially, they focused on preventing the spread of acts in the North of England but later they extended to oppose the law entirely.
• The organisation published a journal called the Shield.

Question 12

What did the LNA for the repeal of the CDA do?

Answer 12

• Formed a few weeks after the National Association.
• Led by Josephine Butler. Since the laws only affected women, Butler felt women should be involved in campaigning for their repeal.
• Presented their opinion on 31 December 1869.
• A copy of the statement was presented to Parliament with 2,000 signatures from supporters.
• They campaigned until the acts were repealed in 1886.
• They drew a lot of attention to the issue.

Question 13

Who was Josephine Butler?

Answer 13

Background:

• Wife of a headmaster in Liverpool.
• Involved in the Liverpool area supporting poor women and girls in a local poorhouse and as chairwoman for a committee on extending adult education.

Role:
- She was a forceful, persuasive speaker who provided respectable leadership to a movement that was addressing a taboo subject.

Question 14

Who was Elizabeth Wolstenholme?

Answer 14

Background:

• A personal friend of Butler’s.
• Denied an education by her traditionalist father, founded a school for girls and was a strong advocate for women’s rights.

Role:
- A founding member of the Ladies’ National Association. She took a direct role and was fond of petitions as a means of protest.

Question 15

Was there support in Parliament?

Answer 15

Although most support for the movement was extra-parliamentary, there were some MPs who gave support. William Fowler and later James Stansfeld, both Liberal MPs, spoke in favour of ending the laws, primarily because they essentially legalised prostitution. Fowler complained in Parliament that the laws were unconstitutional for arresting women with only a suspicion and no requirement for evidence. John Stuart Mill, famous for supporting female suffrage, also spoke out against the laws. However, the number of MPs was small.

Question 16

What did the Parliamentary commissions do?

Answer 16

In 1879, a Select Commitee of the House of Commons formed which investigated the acts for 68 days over three years and interviewed 71 witnesses. Their report in 1882 stated that the acts had successfully protected the army from venereal disease.

Question 17

What did William Gladstone do?

Answer 17

In 1886, the Liberal government of William Gladstone indicated an intention to abolish the acts completely. This was passed by a majority of 114 votes.

Question 18

Why did Parliament repeal the laws?

Answer 18

The main reason was the scale of opposition to the laws. By the 1880s, opposition had grown enormously. Over 10,000 petitions had been presented to Parliament.

There were other reasons for the abolition of the acts:

• The arguments presented by the opposition were logical and practical.
• For most of the 1870s, a Conservative government had been in power which favoured maintaining the laws.