Stepping up to the plate

WHEN COURAGE CALLS:
Josephine Butler and the Pursuit of
Justice for Women
By Sarah C. Williams
Hodder & Stoughton. 311 pages. £25
ISBN 978 1 399 803 731

Q: What do you call someone who heads a movement which overturns unjust and exploitative practices supported by legislation? A: A Christian.

The person in question is Josephine Butler who brought the scandal of the sexual double standard prevalent in mid nineteenth century Britain to public attention. This eventually led to the repeal of The Contagious Diseases Acts, which compelled women suspected of prostitution to submit to internal examinations and internment in special ‘lock’ prisons for up to nine months until symptoms of venereal disease had ceased: a measure designed to protect military men from being infected.