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Abolitionism: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen
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1869, then, was a watershed year. This year saw the foundation of the Association for the Extension of the Contagious Diseases Acts, but it also witnessed the foundation of its adversaries, namely the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, and - since this was initially restricting women from its meetings - the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts by December. | 1869, then, was a watershed year. This year saw the foundation of the Association for the Extension of the Contagious Diseases Acts, but it also witnessed the foundation of its adversaries, namely the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, and - since this was initially restricting women from its meetings - the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts by December. | ||
An important cause for conflict had been the conditions in what was called a Lock hospital or Lock ward, i.e. an institution designed to treat those infected with a venereal disease. Once declared diseased a woman would be confined there (or in a workhouse infirmary) under stressful conditions. | |||
At the basis, though, the repealists struck a chord with the public consensus on the issues surrounding prostitution and they highlighted the issue of double standards. | |||
While the abolition of slavery was all about equality between the races, the fight against the discriminatory control of prostitutes was all about equality between the sexes. To punish women in order to protect men was evidently unjust. | |||
As one prostitute said: ''It is men, only men, from the first to the last that we have to do with! To please a man I did wrong at first, then I was flung about from man to man. Men police lay hands on us. By men we are examined, handled, doctored. In the hospital it is a man again who makes prayer and reads the Bible for us. We are had up before magistrates who are men, and we never get out of the hands of men till we die! | As one prostitute said: ''It is men, only men, from the first to the last that we have to do with! To please a man I did wrong at first, then I was flung about from man to man. Men police lay hands on us. By men we are examined, handled, doctored. In the hospital it is a man again who makes prayer and reads the Bible for us. We are had up before magistrates who are men, and we never get out of the hands of men till we die! | ||
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The protagonist of the Ladies Association was Josephine Butler. Both groups actively campaigned against the acts and between 1870 and 1885, 17,365 petitions against the acts bearing 2,606,429 signatures were presented to the House of Commons, and during the same period, more than 900 meetings were held. | The protagonist of the Ladies Association was Josephine Butler. Both groups actively campaigned against the acts and between 1870 and 1885, 17,365 petitions against the acts bearing 2,606,429 signatures were presented to the House of Commons, and during the same period, more than 900 meetings were held. | ||